The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion

by Thomas Hardy

The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion: Metaphors 1 key example

Definition of Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—Twilight and Darkness:

When describing the solitary way in which Phyllis and her father (Dr. Grove) live, the narrator uses a pair of metaphors, as seen in the following passage:

The daughter’s seclusion was great, but beyond the seclusion of the girl lay the seclusion of the father. If her social condition was twilight, his was darkness. Yet he enjoyed his darkness, while her twilight oppressed her.