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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
Preface
Explanation and Analysis—The Turn of the Screw:
In The Turn of the Screw, the title itself makes use of an idiom that, in most cases, is used metaphorically to refer to something excruciating or horrible. In this case, it's used to describe a story about ghosts haunting children. It's also used as a way of expressing a certain escalation of the stakes, as Douglas listens to a story about the haunting of a child and then says he has an even worse story:
"But it's not the first occurrence of its charming kind that I know to have involved a child. If the child gives the effect another turn of the screw, what do you say to two children—?"
Related Themes:
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Flights and Drops:
The governess opens her tale with a rather strange but nonetheless evocative metaphor comparing the beginning of her time at Bly to a strange kind of oscillation:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I remember the whole beginning as a succession of flights and drops, a little see-saw of the right throbs and the wrong.
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Explanation and Analysis—Daunting Circumstances:
Soon after arriving at Bly, the governess takes stock of her situation, using both a metaphor and a simile to express her feelings about the somewhat ambiguous and daunting circumstances of her employment. First, she metaphorically compares her "circumstances" to something huge, imposing, and intimidating:
Unlock with LitCharts A+They had, as it were, an extent and mass for which I had not been prepared and in the presence of which I found myself, freshly, a little scared as well as a little proud.
Related Themes:
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Contamination:
In a conversation with Mrs. Grose about how to handle children, the governess metaphorically presents bad behavior as some sort of contaminant, as if it's infectious and has the power to corrupt others:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"You like them with the spirit to be naughty?" Then, keeping pace with her answer, "So do I!" I eagerly brought out. "But not to the degree to contaminate—"
"To contaminate?"—my big word left her at a loss. I explained it. "To corrupt."
She stared, taking my meaning in; but it produced in her an odd laugh. "Are you afraid he'll corrupt you?"
Related Themes:
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—The Crouching Beast:
As she tells her story, the governess considers the period just before everything started to go wrong at Bly—that is, the period right before she started seeing the ghosts of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. She sees this stretch of time as rather idyllic, but she also retrospectively sees it as the calm before the storm, and she uses a metaphor to highlight this feeling:
Unlock with LitCharts A+It may be, of course, above all, that what suddenly broke into this gives the previous time a charm of stillness—that hush in which something gathers or crouches.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Flash and Vibration:
Upon seeing the ghost of Peter Quint for the second time, the governess uses a metaphor to describe the experience of staring straight into the ghost's face and somehow knowing that he's looking for one of the children:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The flash of this knowledge—for it was knowledge in the midst of dread—produced in me the most extraordinary effect, started, as I stood there, a sudden vibration of duty and courage.
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—The Spot That Ached:
After the governess sees the ghost of Miss Jessel, she breaks down. Later, though, she returns to Flora, and she uses a metaphor in her narration to describe the calming effect Flora has on her:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I had simply, in other words, plunged afresh into Flora's special society and there become aware—it was almost a luxury!—that she could put her little conscious hand straight upon the spot that ached.
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