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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 Every Man in His Humour
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Unsavoury Snuff:
In the opening scene of the play, Stephen, a naive young gentleman from the countryside, asks his uncle, Knowell, if he has any books on falconry, or the training of falcons and other birds of prey. Knowell, who disapproves of falconry just as he disapproves of his own son’s interest in poetry, uses a series of metaphors related to melting and burning when giving advice to his nephew:
I would not have you to invade each place,
Nor thrust yourself on all societies,
Till men's affections, or your own desert,
Should worthily invite you to your rank.
He that is so respectless in his courses
Oft sells his reputation at cheap market.
Nor would I, you should melt away yourself
In flashing bravery, lest while you affect
To make a blaze of gentry to the world,
A little puff of scorn extinguish it,
And you be left like an unsavoury snuff,
Whose property is only to offend.
Act 1, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Tin-Foiled:
In a speech suffused with verbal irony, the intelligent and urbane Edward insults his naive cousin Stephen while seemingly complimenting him, using a series of metaphors related to metal to suggest that his cousin is of little value:
Unlock with LitCharts A+A wight that (hitherto) his every step hath left the stamp of a great foot behind him, as every word the savour of a strong spirit! And he! This man! So graced, gilded, or (to use a more fit metaphor) so tin-foiled by nature, as not ten housewives' pewter (again' a good time) shows more bright to the world than he! And he (as I said last, so I say again, and still shall say it)-this man!-to conceal such real ornaments as these, and shadow their glory, as a milliner's wife does her wrought stomacher, with a smoky lawn, or a black cyprus?
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—A New Disease:
Kitely, a London merchant, has become paranoid that his wife is having an affair with another man while he is busy at work. In a soliloquy, he reflects upon his anxieties, using the metaphor of disease to understand his own paranoia:
Unlock with LitCharts A+A new disease? I know not, new or old,
But it may well be called poor mortals' plague:
For, like a pestilence, it doth infect
The houses of the brain. First, it begins
Solely to work upon the fantasy,
Filling her seat with such pestiferous air,
As soon corrupts the judgement; and from thence
Sends like contagion to the memory,
Still each to other giving the infection.
Which, as a subtle vapour, spreads itself,
Confusedly, through every sensive part,
Till not a thought or motion in the mind,
Be free from the black poison of suspect.
Act 2, Scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—This Dye Goes Deeper:
In a soliloquy, Knowell reflects upon what he considers to be the poor conduct and behavior of the younger generation, using two closely related metaphors regarding disease and fabric dye:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Aye, it is like:
When it is gone into the bone already.
No, no: this dye goes deeper than the coat,
Or shirt, or skin. It stains, unto the liver
And heart, in some. And, rather than it should not,
Note what we fathers do! Look how we live!
What mistresses we keep! At what expense,
In our sons' eyes! Where they may handle our gifts,
Hear our lascivious courtships, see our dalliance,
Taste of the same provoking meats with us,
To ruin of our states! Nay, when our own
Portion is fled, to prey on their remainder,
We call them into fellowship of vice!
Related Themes:
Act 5, Scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—Picture of a Poet:
In the concluding scene of the play, the wily Justice Clement untangles the various subplots and confusions that have driven the action of the play, apportioning punishment and reward where he sees fit. He reserves special ire for Matthew, the foolish “town gull,” and Bobadil, the braggart soldier, using a series of metaphors to demean their authenticity:
Unlock with LitCharts A+But, to dispatch away these, you sign o' the Soldier, and picture o' the Poet (but both so false I will not ha' you hanged out at my door till midnight), while we are at supper, you two shall penitently fast it out in my court, without; and, if you will, you may pray there, that we may be so merry within as to forgive, or forget you, when we come out. Here's a third, because we tender your safety, shall watch you, he is provided for the purpose. [To FORMAL] Look to your charge, sir.
Related Themes:
