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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 Room of One's Own
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Collar:
In the following metaphor from Chapter 1, the narrator compares her task of writing on "women and fiction" to a collar around her neck:
That collar I have spoken of, women and fiction, the need of coming to some conclusion on a subject that raises all sorts of prejudices and passions, bowed my head to the ground.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Rare Types:
In Chapter 1, the narrator describes the men who surround her on the fictionalized "Oxbridge" college campus, utilizing metaphor to draw comparisons between them and their objects of study:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Many were in cap and gown; some had tufts of fur on their shoulders; others were wheeled in bath-chairs; others, though not past middle age, seemed creased and crushed into shapes so singular that one was reminded of those giant crabs and crayfish who heave with difficulty across the sand of an aquarium. As I leant against the wall the University indeed seemed a sanctuary in which are preserved rare types which would soon be obsolete if left to fight for existence on the pavement of the Strand.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Thought:
At the beginning of Chapter 1, the narrator sits on the bank of a stream in Oxbridge, considering the task ahead of her: crafting an intelligent, informed speech on the remarkably broad topic of "women and fiction." Sitting down to address this topic, the narrator utilizes metaphor to describe her jumbled thought processes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+There one might have sat the clock round lost in thought. Thought—to call it by a prouder name than it deserved—had let its line down into the stream. [....] Alas, laid on the grass how small, how insignificant this thought of mine looked; the sort of fish that a good fisherman puts back into the water so that it may grow fatter and be one day worth cooking and eating.
Related Themes:
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—The Factory:
At the beginning of Chapter 2, the narrator walks to the British Museum to conduct research on "Women and Fiction," finding herself beset with masculine rhetoric on all sides. As she approaches the museum, she utilizes both simile and metaphor to remark on her surroundings:
Unlock with LitCharts A+London was like a workshop. London was like a machine. We were all being shot backwards and forwards on this plain foundation to make some pattern. The British Museum was another department of the factory.
Related Themes:
