Previous
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 6
Explanation and Analysis—Lighthouse :
In his usual blunt manner, Dr. Sloper decries Lavinia's inconsistent intelligence to Mrs. Almond. He uses a simile to liken her to a "revolving lighthouse" alternating between brightness and darkness:
‘And yet at moments no one blurts things out with such crudity. She is like a revolving lighthouse; pitch darkness alternating with a dazzling brilliancy! But what did you tell her?’ the Doctor asked.
Related Themes:
Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Magnified Babyhouse:
James offers a picturesque portrayal of Mrs. Montgomery's home, filling this passage with intense visual imagery and a simile referring to a toy shop. This all comes together to differentiate it from the grand Washington Square residence:
Unlock with LitCharts A+There were green shutters upon the windows, without slats, but pierced with little holes, arranged in groups; and before the house was a diminutive yard, ornamented with a bush of mysterious character, and surrounded by a low wooden paling, painted in the same green as the shutters. The place looked like a magnified babyhouse and might have been taken down from a shelf in a toy-shop.
Related Themes:
Chapter 15
Explanation and Analysis—Formally Submissive:
The narrative presents Catherine's internal conflict about Morris Townsend—namely, her desire to assert herself against her father's overwhelming will—using tactile imagery and a simile referring to the debilitating effect of being crushed by a great physical weight:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The idea of a struggle with her father, of setting up her will against his own, was heavy on her soul, and it kept her formally submissive, as a great physical weight keeps us motionless.
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Like a Lancet:
Following a particularly cutting remark from Mrs. Penniman about Dr. Sloper's past family losses, Dr. Sloper retaliates with a look so sharp and intense that James uses a simile to compare it to a medical instrument:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Mrs Penniman hesitated a moment. Then she risked her retort. ‘Your being a distinguished physician has not prevented you from already losing two members of your family!’ She had risked it, but her brother gave her such a terribly incisive look—a look so like a surgeon’s lancet—that she was frightened at her courage.
Related Themes:
Chapter 21
Explanation and Analysis—Copper Kettles:
Publicly deriding Catherine's character, Dr. Sloper employs a simile that he extends into a metaphor. He likens her flaws to indelible dents on a kettle:
Unlock with LitCharts A+She is like a copper kettle that receives a dent; you may polish up the kettle, but you can’t efface the mark.
Related Themes:
Chapter 24
Explanation and Analysis—A Bundle of Shawls:
When Dr. Sloper gives his disdainful view of Catherine’s intellectual capacities as they travel in the Alps, he uses a simile to compare her to a bundle of shawls:
Unlock with LitCharts A+‘She is about as intelligent as the bundle of shawls,’ the Doctor said; her main superiority being that while the bundle of shawls sometimes got lost, or tumbled out of the carriage, Catherine was always at her post, and had a firm and ample seat.
Related Themes:
Chapter 29
Explanation and Analysis—Disembodied Doubts:
As Catherine’s anxieties about Morris Townsend converge on her, they seem to manifest as something real and touchable, a tangible dread. This transformation is captured vividly with the following simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+A sudden fear had come over her; it was like the solid conjunction of a dozen disembodied doubts, and her imagination, at a single bound, had traversed an enormous distance.
Related Themes:
