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Definition of Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations intended to emphasize a point... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements... read full definition
Key Examples in Flatland
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Exterminated!:
In the fourth chapter of Flatland, Abbott employs satire and hyperbole to critique limiting 19th-century views on women's capacities. A Square’s cruel and dismissive descriptions reflect the Victorian view of women as powerless and overly emotional:
[...] they are consequently wholly devoid of brainpower, and have neither reflection, judgment nor forethought, and hardly any memory. Hence, in their fits of fury, they remember no claims and recognize no distinctions. I have actually known a case where a Woman has exterminated her whole household, and half an hour afterwards, when her rage was over and the fragments swept away, has asked what has become of her husband and her children.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Rules for Lines:
As A Square describes the way that women are compelled to behave in public, Abbott satirizes the ridiculous hoops of propriety that Victorian women were forced to jump through:
Unlock with LitCharts A+In some of the States there is an additional Law forbidding Females, under penalty of death, from walking or standing in any public place without moving their backs constantly from right to left so as to indicate their presence to those behind them; [...]But it has been found by the wisest of our Circles or Statesmen that the multiplication of restrictions on Females tends not only to the debilitation and diminution of the race, but also to the increase of domestic murders to such an extent that a State loses more than it gains by a too prohibitive Code.
Related Themes:
