A Room with a View
by E. M. Forster

A Room with a View: Idioms 1 key example

Definition of Idiom

An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Chapter 16
Explanation and Analysis—Falling Scales:

The sixteenth chapter follows Lucy as she attempts to grapple with the previous chapter's momentous incident: her second kiss with George. She confronts George and he delivers a gripping speech on why she can't stay with Cecil. Lucy refuses to listen to him in the moment, but at the end of the chapter the narrator uses an idiom to capture the moment in which she grasps George's point:

The scales fell from Lucy’s eyes. How had she stood Cecil for a moment? He was absolutely intolerable, and the same evening she broke her engagement off.