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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 Love's Labor's Lost
Act 4, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Shooter:
After Boyet reads out Armado's letter, he and Rosaline have a playful conversation about who will fall in love next. They riff back and forth about whom the next suitor will be. Rosaline's replies pun on the words “suitor” and “shooter,” which would have been pronounced in the same way. After a few jokes, Rosaline adopts the pun as a metaphor:
ROSALINE
Well, then, I am the shooter.BOYET
And who is your deer?ROSALINE
If we choose by the horns, yourself come not near.
Related Themes:
Act 5, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Rosaline's Terms:
Rosaline lays out the terms under which Berowne might win her hand in marriage. In so doing, she compares his wit to wormwood:
Unlock with LitCharts A+ROSALINE
Oft I have heard of you, my Lord Berowne,
Before I saw you; and the world's large tongue
Proclaims you for a man replete with mocks,
Full of comparisons and wounding flouts,
[...] To weed this wormwood from your fruitful brain,
And therewithal to win me, if you please,
Without the which I am not to be won,
You shall this twelvemonth term from day to day
Visit the speechless sick[.]
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Love as Battle:
Boyet informs the princess and her ladies of the Spaniards’ plans to arrive at their camp dressed as Russian ambassadors. He identifies Ferdinand’s plan as one aimed at winning the romantic attentions of these ladies and urges them to prepare accordingly with this metaphor:
BOYET
Arm, wenches, arm. Encounters mounted are
Against your peace. Love doth approach, disguised,
Armèd in arguments. You’ll be surprised.
Muster your wits, stand in your own defense,
Or hide your head like cowards, and fly hence.
Boyet speaks of love as if it were a literal battle. He urges the women to “arm” themselves for the campaign “mounted against [their] peace” by the men of the court. Love itself is approaching “armed in arguments,” with careful words as weapons. The ladies must stand in their own defense or flee.
Related Themes:
