- All's Well That Ends Well
- Antony and Cleopatra
- As You Like It
- The Comedy of Errors
- Coriolanus
- Cymbeline
- Hamlet
- Henry IV, Part 1
- Henry IV, Part 2
- Henry V
- Henry VI, Part 1
- Henry VI, Part 2
- Henry VI, Part 3
- Henry VIII
- Julius Caesar
- King John
- King Lear
- Love's Labor's Lost
- A Lover's Complaint
- Macbeth
- Measure for Measure
- The Merchant of Venice
- The Merry Wives of Windsor
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Othello
- Pericles
- The Rape of Lucrece
- Richard II
- Richard III
- Romeo and Juliet
- Shakespeare's Sonnets
- The Taming of the Shrew
- The Tempest
- Timon of Athens
- Titus Andronicus
- Troilus and Cressida
- Twelfth Night
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona
- Venus and Adonis
- The Winter's Tale
This short line is one of the most significant uses of figurative language in the entire story. It comes directly in response to Mrs. Crater laying the “bait” by saying she’ll pay to have the automobile painted if Shiftlet marries Lucynell.
Up until now, there have only been subtle hints that Shiftlet may not be as virtuous, honest, or Christlike as he appears to be. The simile here, comparing Shiftlet’s smile to a “weary snake” in the darkness, carries an ominous and frightening tone. Just like a bird is usually a symbol of hope in the Christian tradition, a snake…