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Irony
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
Book 3, Chapter 31
Explanation and Analysis—Faint Tail:
Near the end of the long series of quests for the Holy Grail in The Ill-Made Knight, things began to seem dire for the institution of knighthood in Camelot as a whole. None had succeeded in finding the Grail, and many died in the attempt:
The faint tail of knighthood straggled in by twos and threes, then one at a time, then with intervals of days between the solitary riders. The list of dead and missing, kept by Sir Bedivere, began to settle down in to a list of dead, as the missing either returned exhausted or were confirmed dead by reliable report.
Related Themes:
Book 3, Chapter 39
Explanation and Analysis—Firm Hand:
During the Winchester tournament in Chapter 39 of The Ill-Made Knight, Elaine shows her "sensitive nature" over the sad fact that Lancelot must leave. She shows deep emotion along with shrewd restraint, which White expresses with deft metaphor:
Unlock with LitCharts A+She had been sensitive enough not to overwhelm him with welcomes when he came home from his long absence: not to reproach him—she had never felt that she had reason to reproach him: and above all, not to suffocate him with pity for herself. She had held her heart with a firm hand while they waited at Corbin for the tournament, carefully hiding the long years during which she had hoped for her lord [...]
