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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
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Horsemanship:
In Act 1, Scene 1, during a conversation about horsemanship that takes place between Ferdinand and Antonio, the latter makes an allusion to the story of Troy. Antonio has been introduced as the court’s finest jouster and is now being questioned by Ferdinand. Their interaction is significant because of the conflict that will emerge between these two characters. Antonio’s marriage to Ferdinand’s sister will ultimately bring about much of the play’s violence. Therefore, their conversation here is significant beyond its subject matter. Antonio responds to a compliment of his horsemanship with the following simile:
Nobly, my lord. As out of the Grecian horse issued many famous princes, so out of brave horsemanship arise the first sparks of growing resolution that raise the mind to noble action.
Explanation and Analysis—Plum Trees:
In Act 1, Scene 1, after an interaction with Ferdinand and the Cardinal, Bosola uses a simile to describe his impression of the brothers. He has recently been released from prison and finds that being in proximity to the brothers is intense because of how wealthy they are. The audience eventually comes to understand how drawn Bosola is to wealth and power because of his lower-class upbringing, he craves the stability that they could provide. Nonetheless, in this scene he criticizes their tawdry display of abundance. After the Cardinal exits, Bosola meets Delio and Antonio. At Delio’s prompting, he says:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He and his brother are like plum trees that grow crooked over standing pools; they are rich and o’erladen, stagnant with fruit, but none but crows, pies, and caterpillars feed on them.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Moths in Cloth:
In Act 1, Scene 1, Antonio and his friend Delio are introduced to Bosola, the recently released criminal who is trying to reenter society and who confides in them about his desire for security. Once Bosola leaves, Antonio uses a simile to describe his interpretation of Bosola’s predicament. Antonio and Delio are left alone onstage, so Antonio is able to express himself honestly in a way that he wouldn’t be able to with other important figures around. He says:
Unlock with LitCharts A+It then doth follow want of action
Breeds all black malcontents; and their close rearing,
Like moths in cloth, do hurt for want of wearing.
Related Themes:
Act 4, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—English Mastiffs:
In the opening of Act 4, Scene 1, Ferdinand questions Bosola about how the Duchess is faring, and Bosola uses a simile to describe her mood. The Duchess has been imprisoned by her brother and is separated from her husband. Her awareness of her own captivity has made her despondent, and Bosola communicates how she longs for the world beyond. However, Ferdinand is unsatisfied, as he believes that she still has an edge of disdain and is therefore resisting full captivity. His desire to completely alienate the Duchess from the world is exacerbated by this frustration. Bosola responds with a simile, saying:
Unlock with LitCharts A+'Tis so, and this restraint
Like English mastiffs grow fierce with tying,
Makes her too passionately apprehend
Those pleasures she’s kept from.
Act 4, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Chained Bullets:
In Act 4, Scene 2, after the Duchess has been killed, Bosola and Ferdinand are left facing off. Bosola realizes that he is in danger, and uses a simile to characterize Ferdinand and his brother and how dangerous their behavior is.
Bosola intends to drive Ferdinand away and save himself from the same grisly death he has just witnessed—as both the Duchess and her maid Cariola have just been strangled. He asks Ferdinand for his compensation, and when Ferdinand responds negatively, he says:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Your brother and yourself are worthy men;
You have a pair of hearts are hollow graves,
Rotten and rotting others; and your vengeance,
Like two chained bullets, still goes arm in arm.
Explanation and Analysis—Glow-Worms:
In Act 4, Scene 2, Bosola is in disguise as a tombmaker in the Duchess’s chamber, and he recites a simile to her in a conversation before she is killed. The darkness of the moment is reflected in Bosola’s assessment of the Duchess’s wealth and title. At the play’s beginning, he believed that those attributes would provide stability, but having to witness the Duchess’s downfall has convinced him otherwise. When she tries to pull rank on him and implies that neither Bosola nor the executioner should underestimate her power, Bosola says:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Glories, like glow-worms, afar off shine bright
But looked to near have neither heat nor light.
Act 5, Scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—Diamonds:
In Act 5, Scene 5, during the play’s final bloodbath, Ferdinand recites his last words after he is stabbed by Bosola. To those assembled, he extrapolates on the nature of the world and uses a simile to reflect on his destruction. He calls to his sister, trying to reckon with her violent death and his own culpability in her murder. Ferdinand’s ability to reflect on the circumstances of his death (and on the many misdeeds he committed in his lifetime) comes as a surprise to Bosola, who is still present and conscious. But Ferdinand’s final lines are the most precise and meaningful. Right before he dies, he says:
Unlock with LitCharts A+My sister, oh, my sister! There’s the cause on’t.
Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust,
Like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.
