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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
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Women Without Desires:
In Chapter 4 of Orlando, as Orlando becomes immersed in late-18th century English society, she also discovers entrenched sexism in nearly every part of life. When she meets Nell, who quickly becomes a close and platonic female friend, Orlando feels excited at the prospect of a female-centric relationship. However, Woolf's narrator quickly interrupts Orlando's happiness with a hyperbole on the nature of men, thus demonstrating how both literature and society often prioritize men's voices over the voices of their female counterparts:
All they desire is—but hist again—is that not a man's step on the stair? All they desire, we were about to say when the gentleman took the very words from out of our mouths. Women have no desires, says this gentleman, coming into Nell’s parlour; only affectations. Without desires [...] their conversation cannot be of the slightest to anyone. “It is well known,” says Mr. S. W., “that when they lack the stimulus of the other sex, women can find nothing to say to each other. When they are alone, they do not talk; they scratch.”
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Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—"You're a Woman!":
When Orlando meets Shel in Chapter Five of Orlando, Woolf utilizes hyperbole to demonstrate the importance of their unorthodox attitudes towards sex and gender:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“You’re a woman, Shel!” she cried. “You’re a man, Orlando!” he cried. Never was there such a scene of protestation and demonstration as then took place since the world began.
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