Definition of Metaphor
Key Examples in The Daughters of the Late Colonel
Mansfield uses a metaphor that likens the Colonel’s lingering presence to a dangerous animal, to describe Josephine’s feelings of fear and discomfort at remaining in the Pinner house:
But how could she explain to Constantia that father was in the chest of drawers? He was in the top drawer with his handkerchiefs and neckties, or in the next with his shirts and pyjamas, or in the lowest of them all with his suits. He was watching there, hidden away–just behind the door-handle–ready to spring.
In this passage, the author uses a simile and a metaphor to depict Constantia's mental escape from an uncomfortable situation with Nurse Andrew at the dinner table:
Unlock with LitCharts A+But Constantia's long, pale face lengthened and set, and she gazed away—away—far over the desert, to where that line of camels unwound like a thread of wool. . .