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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
Chapter 3, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Stephen's Mind:
Joyce often uses colorful similes to describe Stephen's thought processes. In Chapter 3, Part 2, Stephen's mind becomes a flame-filled "tenement":
His [Stephen's] brain was simmering and bubbling within the cracking tenement of the skull. Flames burst forth from his skull like a corolla, shrieking like voices.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4, Part 3
Explanation and Analysis—The Prism of Language:
Joyce often uses metaphors to convey lofty ideas about language. In Chapter 4, Part 3, the narrator describes language as a "prism":
Unlock with LitCharts A+Did he then love the rhythmic rise and fall of words better than their associations of legend and colour? Or was it that, being as weak of sight as he was shy of mind, he drew less pleasure from the reflection of the glowing sensible world through the prism of a language manycoloured and richly storied than from the contemplation of an inner world of individual emotions mirrored perfectly in a lucid supple periodic prose?
Related Themes:
Chapter 5, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Priesthood:
Joyce uses priesthood as a metaphor for artistry. In Chapter 5, the narrator describes Stephen as a "priest of the eternal imagination":
Unlock with LitCharts A+To him she would unveil her soul’s shy nakedness, to one who was but schooled in the discharging of a formal rite rather than to him, a priest of the eternal imagination, transmuting the daily bread of experience into the radiant body of everliving life. The radiant image of the eucharist united again in an instant his bitter and despairing thoughts, their cries arising unbroken in a hymn of thanksgiving.
Related Themes:
