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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
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Servants and Women:
In Chapter 7, the musketeers disturbingly advise d'Artagnan to find a way to control Planchet, who has been refusing to work when d'Artagnan doesn't have the money to pay him. Porthos uses an especially troubling simile that foreshadows the main conflict of the novel:
"[...] But I have neither money nor social standing, I’m not a musketeer or even a guard—what can I do to arouse Planchet’s fear, respect, or affection?”
“It’s a serious problem,” said Porthos. “Servants are like women: they must be quickly taught to behave as you want them to. Think it over and try to find a solution.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Archimedes's Lever:
In Chapter 8, d'Artagnan sits in his room and thinks in awe about his new friendship with Athos, Porthos and Aramis. As he thinks of what they could achieve together (ideally in exchange for some good money), he conjures to mind a simile that alludes to a law of physics:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He racked his brain in search of a purpose to which that fourfold force could be applied. He had no doubt that, like Archimedes’ lever, it could lift the world if it was properly used.
Related Themes:
Chapter 21
Explanation and Analysis—Scotsmen of France:
In Chapter 21, d'Artagnan refuses a reward from the Duke of Buckingham for helping him return the queen's diamond tags. When the duke uses a simile comparing d'Artagnan to a Scotsman, d'Artagnan reinforces the comparison by turning it into a metaphor:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“As we say in England, you’re proud as a Scotsman.”
“In France we say ‘proud as a Gascon.’ The Gascons are the Scotsmen of France.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 27
Explanation and Analysis—Devastation and Death:
In Chapter 27, d'Artagnan returns to the inn where he last saw Athos. When he finally gets Athos and Grimaud to come out of the basement where they have barricaded themselves this whole time, Dumas uses a simile and some lighthearted parody to describe the damage they have done:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The image of devastation and death, as an ancient poet said, reigned there as on a battlefield.
Chapter 32
Explanation and Analysis—Archipelago Soup:
In Chapter 32, Dumas uses a vivid simile to emphasize the situational irony of Porthos's lackluster dinner at Madame Coquenard's house:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Porthos did not understand how the soup could look delicious to anyone: it was a pale, watery liquid with nothing showing in it except pieces of bread crust, and there were so few of them that they floated like the widely scattered islands of an archipelago.
Related Themes:
Chapter 37
Explanation and Analysis—Milady the Predator:
Dumas regularly uses similes comparing Milady to animals and non-human creatures, especially predatory or frightening ones. One example of this motif occurs in Chapter 37, when d'Artagnan first discovers the fleur-de-lis branded on her shoulder:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“My God!” he cried out, letting go of the negligee.
He then sat silent and motionless on the bed. But from his exclamation Milady realized what he had seen. Now he knew her secret, the terrible secret that no one else knew.
She turned on him like a wounded panther.
Related Themes:
Chapter 45
Explanation and Analysis—Milady the Predator:
Dumas regularly uses similes comparing Milady to animals and non-human creatures, especially predatory or frightening ones. One example of this motif occurs in Chapter 37, when d'Artagnan first discovers the fleur-de-lis branded on her shoulder:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“My God!” he cried out, letting go of the negligee.
He then sat silent and motionless on the bed. But from his exclamation Milady realized what he had seen. Now he knew her secret, the terrible secret that no one else knew.
She turned on him like a wounded panther.
Related Themes:
Chapter 59
Explanation and Analysis—Last Kiss of Love:
In Chapter 59, Felton assassinates the Duke of Buckingham after Milady manipulates him into it. The duke's death scene is full of situational irony, which Dumas drives home with a simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He looked around for some precious object, but his eyes, dimmed by the approach of death, encountered only the bloody knife that Felton had dropped.
“Give her that knife,” he said, clasping La Porte’s hand.
He found the strength to put the knife and the satin bag into the box, then he shook his head to tell La Porte that he could no longer speak.
[...]
Buckingham tried to smile, but death stopped his thought and it remained engraved on his face like a last kiss of love.
Related Themes:
