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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
Key Examples in Dracula
Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Quincey's Pain:
In Chapter 12, Dr. Seward and Van Helsing must convince Quincey Morris to give blood in order to save Lucy's life; in the course of this process, Stoker uses an apt metaphor to describe Quincey's emotional pain:
He was in a torture of suspense regarding the woman he loved, and his utter ignorance of the terrible mystery which seemed to surround her intensified his pain. His very heart was bleeding, and it took all the manhood of him - and there was a royal lot of it, too - to keep him from breaking down.
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—A Chess Game:
In the following metaphor from Chapter 19, Van Helsing describes the group's fight against Dracula as a chess game:
Unlock with LitCharts A+So it be that [Dracula] is gone elsewhere. Good! It has given us opportunity to cry "check" in some ways in this chess game, which we play for the sake of human souls.
Related Themes:
Chapter 21
Explanation and Analysis—Dracula's "Wine Press":
In this climactic passage in Chapter 21, Dracula addresses both Mina Harker (whom he has just preyed upon) and the men in the room, using a metaphor to liken Mina to his own "bountiful wine-press":
Unlock with LitCharts A+And you, their best beloved one, are now to me, flesh of my flesh; blood of my blood; kin of my kin; my bountiful wine-press for a while; and shall be later on my companion and my helper.
Related Themes:
Chapter 23
Explanation and Analysis—The Role of Christianity:
In Chapter 23, much aggrieved on account of Mina's condition (being vampirized by the Count), Jonathan Harker puts forth this metaphor:
Unlock with LitCharts A+We are all drifting reefwards now, and faith is our only anchor.
Related Themes:
Chapter 25
Explanation and Analysis—Infantilization:
There are several instances throughout Dracula of certain individuals being compared to children: most prominently, Mina Harker and Dracula himself. This comparison is a form of diminishing, or infantilization, though purposed towards different ends. Several of the characters describe Dracula's brain as "child-like," including Dr. Seward in Chapter 25:
Unlock with LitCharts A+There I have hope that our man-brains, that have been of man so long and that have not lost the grace of God, will come higher than his child-brain that lie in his tomb for centuries, that grow not yet to our stature, and that only do work selfish and therefore small.
Related Themes:
