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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—Picture in the Newspaper:
After the Sheridan family learns of Scott’s death, Laura disagrees with her mother over whether or not they ought to cancel the party. While looking at herself in the mirror, Laura’s thoughts turn to Scott’s family:
Just for a moment she had another glimpse of that poor woman and those little children, and [Scott’s] body being carried into the house. But it all seemed blurred, unreal, like a picture in the newspaper. I’ll remember it again after the party’s over, she decided.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Animals:
Mansfield uses similes throughout “The Garden Party” to compare characters to animals. One of Laura’s sisters is introduced as “Jose, the butterfly,” as she “always came down in a silk petticoat and a kimono jacket.” When Laura enters the kitchen, she hears a “tuk-tuk-tuk,” and the cook clucks “like an agitated hen.” This form of descriptive language extends to guests of the Sheridan Estate. After the “green-coated band” arrives, guest Kitty Maitland exclaims:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“My dear!” […] “aren’t they too like frogs for words? You ought to have arranged them round the pond with the conductor in the middle on a leaf.”
