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Metaphor
Explanation and Analysis—Fire-Eating:
Lawrence employs hyperbole, metaphor, and simile in a passage in which Lydia reflects upon the early days of her marriage to Lensky, a doctor who became an important leader in the fight for Polish independence from Russia:
Lensky was something of a fire-eater also. Lydia, tempered by her German blood, coming of a different family, was obliterated, carried along in her husband’s emphasis of declaration, and his whirl of patriotism. He was indeed a brave man, but no bravery could quite have equalled the vividness of his talk. He worked very hard, till nothing lived in him but his eyes. And Lydia, as if drugged, followed him like a shadow, serving, echoing. Sometimes she had her two children, sometimes they were left behind.
A more mature Lydia looks back ambivalently on her first marriage to Paul Lensky. The narrative characterizes him as "a fire-eater," a metaphor that suggests that he was willing to accept risks and danger in the pursuit of Polish nationalism. Additionally, Lawrence, using hyperbole, writes that Lydia was "obliterated" by the passion of her husband, who worked himself to the bone "till nothing lived in him but his eyes." These exaggerated statements suggest that Lensky was entirely swept up in his political ideals, sacrificing both health and security for the cause of Polish independence.
In contrast, Lydia "followed him like a shadow," a simile that underscores her loyalty to her husband but also suggests that she was animated by personal loyalty rather than political beliefs. Later, Lydia feels that her marriage to Paul was a dangerous and costly mistake.
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