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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 Nicholas Nickleby
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Gold:
In Chapter 1, Dickens introduces readers to Ralph Nickleby, a man defined in large part by his greed and overwhelming self-interest. According to the narrator, who ruminates broadly on the nature of greed throughout the passage, such unchecked avarice can bring about a person's end. Dickens utilizes metaphor to hammer this point home, at the same time foreshadowing Ralph's eventual death in the novel:
Gold conjures up a mist about a man, more destructive of all his old senses and lulling to his feelings than the fumes of charcoal.
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Chapter 13
Explanation and Analysis—Dreams:
In the following passage from Chapter 13, the narrator meditates on the significance of dreams, exploring their relevance as a means of escapism in a world full of harsh cruelties. Dickens uses metaphor in the course of this philosophical contemplation:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Dreams are the bright creatures of poem and legend, who sport on earth in the night season, and melt away in the first beam of the sun, which lights grim care and stern reality on their daily pilgrimage through the world. Nicholas looked upon the sleepers, at first with the air of one who gazes upon a scene which, though familiar to him, has lost none of its sorrowful effect in consequence.
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Chapter 22
Explanation and Analysis—Summit of Life:
At the beginning of Chapter 22, Smike and Nicholas must leave London to seek their fortunes elsewhere. As they make their journey out into the world, the narrator pontificates about the meaning of the adventure. Dickens utilizes metaphor in the following passage to extrapolate on this meaning:
Unlock with LitCharts A+It was a harder day's journey than yesterday's, for there were long and weary hills to climb; and in journeys, as in life, it is a great deal easier to go down hill than up. However, they kept on, with unabated perseverance, and the hill has not yet lifted its face to heaven that perseverance will not gain the summit of at last.
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Chapter 38
Explanation and Analysis—Milk of Human Kindness:
In the following passage from Chapter 38, Mr. Squeers complains about Smike's "ungrateful" behavior, utilizing both metaphor and allusion to do so:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Mrs Squeers has been his mother, grandmother, aunt, – Ah! and I may say uncle too, all in one. She never cottoned to anybody except them two engaging and delightful boys of yours, as she cottoned to this chap. What’s my return? What’s come of my milk of human kindness? It turns into curds and whey when I look at him.
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Chapter 44
Explanation and Analysis—Bookkeeping Morality:
In the following excerpt from Chapter 44, Dickens meditates on the folly of greed in relation to Ralph Nickleby, perhaps the worst perpetrator of said vice in Nicholas Nickleby. Dickens composes an apt metaphor to differentiate Ralph's avarice from that of other men:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Some of the craftiest scoundrels that ever walked this earth, or rather—for walking implies, at least, an erect position and the bearing of a man—that ever crawled and crept through life by its dirtiest and narrowest ways, will gravely jot down in diaries the events of every day, and keep a regular debtor and creditor account with Heaven, which shall always show a floating balance in their own favour.
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Chapter 53
Explanation and Analysis—Vulture and Lamb:
In the following passage from Chapter 53, Nicholas confronts Arthur about his relationship with Madeline, whom Nicholas claims despises Arthur. Using metaphor, Nicholas reveals what he believes to be the true nature of Arthur and Madeline's relationship:
Unlock with LitCharts A+‘Listen to me. You are to be married tomorrow morning.’
‘N – n – no,’ rejoined Gride. ‘Who said I was? How do you know that?’
‘No matter how,’ replied Nicholas, ‘I know it. The young lady who is to give you her hand hates and despises you. Her blood runs cold at the mention of your name – the vulture and the lamb, the rat and the dove, could not be worse matched than you and she. You see I know her.’
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