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Irony
Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Key Examples in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Act 1, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Lodestars:
In Act 1, Scene 1, Helena runs into Hermia and Lysander, who have just vowed to run away together. Because Helena and Hermia are friends, Helena is able to express her anguish over Demetrius. She uses a metaphor to praise her friend and to demonstrate how beautiful she must seem to Demetrius. Her speech is full of jealousy, since she wants to be more like Hermia and hopes to win Demetrius over. She describes her friend this way:
Your eyes are lodestars and your tongue’s sweet air
More tunable than lark to shepherd’s ear
When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear.
Related Themes:
Act 2, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis:
The central conflict between Oberon and Titania is over the custody of a "changeling" child from India. In one of their initial arguments over the boy, Titania uses a metaphor to imply that she is better fit to parent than Oberon. She recalls the story of her acquaintance with the boy’s mother, saying:
Unlock with LitCharts A+When we have laughed to see the sails conceive
And grow big-bellied with the wanton wind;
Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait,
Following (her womb then rich with my young squire),
Would imitate and sail upon the land
To fetch me trifles and return again
As from a voyage, rich with merchandise.
Related Themes:
Act 3, scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—The Serpent:
In Act 3, Scene 2, Lysander uses a simile in a tirade against his former lover. He has been bewitched by a love potion and has thus abandoned Hermia for her friend. His change of affection is shocking, as it is magically induced, and when he and Hermia are reunited, he uses figurative language to communicate the extent of his disinterest. He is trying to discourage Hermia; he wants to get rid of her in order to return to his single-minded pursuit of Helena. His speech is in response to Hermia touching him. When she takes his arm, he says:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Hang off, thou cat, thou burr! Vile thing, let loose,
Or I will shake thee from me like a serpent.
Related Themes:
