Previous
Setting
Definition of Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like" or "as," but can also... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often... read full definition
Similes
Explanation and Analysis—Views and Looking:
In The Dressmaker, Ham often presents her descriptions of Dungatar and its surroundings from distant vantage points—either above or below what's being looked at. Through the motif of views and looking, the novel explores the subjectivity of truth and the influence that perspective has on what one sees and understands.
Related Themes:
Similes
Explanation and Analysis—Eye of the Football Pitch:
Early in the novel, Ham uses simile and metaphor to compare Dungatar to a face, in which the center of the football pitch is an eye that returns Tilly's gaze. Over the course of the novel, the motif of the football pitch comes to represent the community that Tilly and Molly are excluded from—but which relentlessly scrutinizes them.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Similes
Explanation and Analysis—Fog:
At the very start of the novel, fog plays an important role in setting the opening scenes. Ham uses personification and simile to develop the fog's symbolic nature. Shaping the reader's first impression of the setting and characters, these descriptions point towards the dark and heavy mood that lurks beneath the novel's often lighthearted and comical tone. The fog can be understood as a physical manifestation of the secrecy that shapes the lives of the people of Dungatar.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Nature and Weather:
Although much of The Dressmaker revolves around the actions, interactions, and inner lives of the characters, Ham also pays attention to Dungatar and its natural surroundings by describing the setting with rich imagery and similes. In these descriptions, the pettiness of the characters and the overarching satire of the story are offset by the vastness or tranquil beauty of the landscape. Moreover, Ham's compelling descriptions of nature, weather, and wildlife often reflect the mood of a given scene and occasionally bolster the characterization of certain characters.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Chapter 13
Explanation and Analysis—Tilly's Childhood:
Early in the novel, Ham makes it clear to the reader that something dark and difficult took place in Tilly's childhood—and that this was connected to her departure from Dungatur. From time to time the narrator and characters indirectly refer to this event, and the reader thereby receives gradual drips of information about Tilly's backstory. However, it's only through Tilly's own flashbacks that Ham fills out the reader's understanding of why she left Dungatar. In these flashbacks, Ham uses a simile to capture Tilly's childhood trauma and the extent to which these memories live on in her body and mind.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Teddy's Death:
In Chapter 19, following Teddy's accident, Ham uses a range of similes to capture his family's and the town's reaction to his death. Most of these similes conjure up dark images, which contributes to the immense sense of tragedy.
When Teddy's father, Edward, tells his family that they've lost their "hero," Ham uses multiple similes to illustrate the effect this news has on the McSwineys and how Edward feels when he delivers it:
Unlock with LitCharts A+They crashed before him like sugar lace. He wasn’t able to offer any sense of anything from his own heart to them, no comfort, and he understood perfectly how Molly Dunnage and Marigold Pettyman could go mad and drown in the grief and disgust that hung like cob-webs between the streets and buildings in Dungatar when everywhere they looked they would see what they once had.
Related Themes:
Chapter 23
Explanation and Analysis—Flowers:
Over the course of the novel, the reader learns that—besides being a talented dressmaker—Tilly is an exceptional gardener. When three women from Winyerp pay Tilly a visit in Chapter 23, Ham uses imagery, similes, and personification in her detailed description of Tilly's fertile, flourishing garden. In this passage, the diction gives a sense of overflowing abundance:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The wisteria was in full bloom, the house dripping with pendulous, violet flower sprays. Thick threads of myrtle crept around the corner, through the wisteria and across the veranda, netting the boards with shiny green leaves and bright white flowers. Red, white and blue rhododendron trumpets sprang up against the walls and massive oleanders – cerise and crimson – stood at each corner of the house.
Related Themes:
Chapter 32
Explanation and Analysis—Tilly's Glory:
As Tilly plots her revenge on the people of Dungatar towards the end of the novel, the narrator's descriptions of the character reflect her strength. Just before she begins to pour kerosene on her belongings and set the fire in Chapter 32, the reader receives a final description of Tilly and her home:
Unlock with LitCharts A+She stood in front of her tailor’s mirror and studied her reflection. She was wreathed in a brilliant halo, like a back-lit actor, dust from tailor’s chalk and flock floating in shafts of light about her.
Related Themes:
Chapter 33
Explanation and Analysis—Tilly's Farewell:
In Chapter 33, the novel's last, the townspeople return to Dungatar and discover that the town has burned down. Using alliteration, hyperbole, and simile, Ham makes their reaction appear hysterical and amusing to the reader. One would typically sympathize with someone who's lost their home and neighborhood to a fire, but the language and literary devices in the passage bolster the reader's preference for Tilly.
As the characters return from Winyerp and realize what has happened, they all begin to sob uncontrollably:
Unlock with LitCharts A+They groaned and rocked, bawled and howled, their faces red and screwed and their mouths agape, like terrified children lost in a crowd. They were homeless and heartbroken, gazing at the smouldering trail splayed like fingers on a black glove. It had burned north as far as the cemetery, then stopped at the town’s firebreak.
Related Themes:
