Previous
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 Edward II
Act 1, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—A Night-Grown Mushroom :
After the Queen has implored the nobles to restore Piers Gaveston from his second exile, Roger Mortimer comes up with a daring plan. To the surprise of the other nobles, he states that Gaveston should be permitted to return to England so that they can more effectively plot his death. In a speech in which he conveys his plans to the other lords, Mortimer metaphorically compares Gaveston to a “night-grown mushroom”:
Then may we with some colour rise in arms;
For, howsoever we have borne it out,
’Tis treason to be up against the king.
So shall we have the people of our side,
Which for his father’s sake lean to the king
But cannot brook a night-grown mushroom,
Such a one as my lord of Cornwall is,
Should bear us down of the nobility.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—To Angle for the Fish :
The nobles are surprised to hear the Queen advocate on behalf of Gaveston, her rival for the King’s affections. Mortimer, who holds a particular distaste for Gaveston, compares him in a metaphor to a dangerous fish:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Fair queen, forbear to angle for the fish
Which, being caught, strikes him that takes it dead—
I mean that vile torpedo, Gaveston,
That now, I hope, floats on the Irish seas.
Act 2, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—A Flying Fish:
Lancaster metaphorically compares Gaveston to a flying fish at a celebration held in court for the return of Gaveston from exile in Ireland. When King Edward II asks the various lords to explain the symbolic emblems that they have chosen to wear for the event, Lancaster states:
Unlock with LitCharts A+My lord, mine’s more obscure than Mortimer’s.
Pliny reports there is a flying fish
Which all the other fishes deadly hate,
And therefore, being pursued, it takes the air;
No sooner is it up, but there’s a fowl
That seizeth it. This fish, my lord, I bear.
Related Themes:
Act 4, Scene 6
Explanation and Analysis—Nurseries of Arts :
King Edward II uses a layered metaphor that compares the two principal universities of medieval England—Oxford and Cambridge—to a “nursery” of the arts and its students to children. Fleeing from the forces of the rebelling lords, the King and his two “favourites,” Spencer and Baldock, have hidden among the monks at a monastery. Reflecting upon his predicament, his past, and his envy of those monks who live a “life contemplative,” the King states:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Come, Spencer, come, Baldock, come sit down by me;
Make trial now of that philosophy
That in our famous nurseries of arts
Thou sucked’st from Plato and from Aristotle.
Father, this life contemplative is heaven.
O, that I might this life in quiet lead!
Act 5, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Deers and Lions:
In a conversation with Leicester, King Edward uses a metaphor that compares different classes of English society to animals. At this point in the play, the King and his forces have been soundly defeated by those of the rebelling lords, and the King reflects mournfully upon his impending downfall. Leicester, relatively sympathetic to the King, asks him to surrender his crown willingly, and Edward states:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The forest deer, being struck,
Runs to an herb that closeth up the wounds,
But when the imperial lion’s flesh is gored,
He rends and tears it with his wrathful paw,
And, highly scorning that the lowly earth
Should drink his blood, mounts up into the air;
And so it fares with me
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Perfect Shadows:
King Edward is asked to surrender his crown after being defeated by the combined forces of the rebelling lords. Held captive under strict orders by Mortimer, he uses a metaphor that imagines kingship as an insubstantial shadow:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Methinks I should revenge me of the wrongs
That Mortimer and Isabel have done.
But what are kings, when regiment is gone,
But perfect shadows in a sunshine day?
My nobles rule, I bear the name of king;
I wear the crown but am controlled by them,
By Mortimer and my unconstant queen [...]
Related Themes:
Act 5, Scene 6
Explanation and Analysis—Jove's Huge Tree:
Mortimer compares himself metaphorically to a tall tree and his enemies to small shrubs after receiving word that his order to murder the imprisoned former King Edward has been carried out. Speaking with Matrevis, who assisted in the murder, Mortimer states:
Unlock with LitCharts A+As for myself, I stand as Jove’s huge tree,
And others are but shrubs compared to me;
All tremble at my name, and I fear none.
Let’s see who dare impeach me for his death?
Related Themes:
