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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 North and South
Metaphors
Metaphors
Explanation and Analysis—Beasts and Humans:
While Thornton uses the metaphor of "beasts" to refer to his angry workers, Margaret insists that he look at them as human beings.
Related Themes:
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Smoke and Fog:
In Chapter 7, as the Hales approach Milton, the sensory details foreshadow the industrial city's unwholesome environment and its stark contrast to Helstone's relative health and rural beauty:
Unlock with LitCharts A+For several miles before they reached Milton, they saw a deep lead-coloured cloud hanging over the horizon in the direction in which it lay. [...] Nearer to the town, the air had a faint taste and smell of smoke; perhaps, after all, more a loss of the fragrance of grass and herbage than any positive taste or smell.
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Smoke and Fog:
In Chapter 7, as the Hales approach Milton, the sensory details foreshadow the industrial city's unwholesome environment and its stark contrast to Helstone's relative health and rural beauty:
Unlock with LitCharts A+For several miles before they reached Milton, they saw a deep lead-coloured cloud hanging over the horizon in the direction in which it lay. [...] Nearer to the town, the air had a faint taste and smell of smoke; perhaps, after all, more a loss of the fragrance of grass and herbage than any positive taste or smell.
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Hounds, Bees, and Wolves:
The novel uses a motif of people being described as groups of animals; both sides, employers and employees, do this, showing how class antagonism gets expressed in dehumanizing ways by all parties in Milton.
Related Themes:
Chapter 20
Explanation and Analysis—Intoxication:
Reflecting on the Thorntons' dinner party, Margaret expresses ambivalence toward the Milton manufacturing class, using the metaphor of intoxication.
Unlock with LitCharts A+She liked the exultation in the sense of power which these Milton men had. It might be rather rampant in its display, and savour of boasting; but still they seemed to defy the old limits of possibility, in a kind of fine intoxication, caused by the recollection of what had been achieved, and what yet should be.
Related Themes:
