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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
Act 2
Explanation and Analysis—Bed of Roses:
In Act 2, Vivie gets into a vicious argument with her mother about Mrs. Warren's past as a sex worker. In response to her daughter's upset, Mrs. Warren attempts to explain her point of view. In part of her justification, she utilizes both simile and metaphor to describe the realities of sex work to Vivie:
MRS WARREN. But she has to bear with disagreeables and take the rough with the smooth, just like a nurse in a hospital or anyone else. It's not work that any woman would do for pleasure, goodness knows; though to hear the pious people talk you would suppose it was a bed of roses.
In the above excerpt, Shaw features a simile ("nurse in a hospital") and related metaphor ("bed of roses"). These paired bits of figurative language serve to contrast pragmatism and romance. Mrs. Warren notes that "pious" people believe the sex work profession to be a "bed of roses"—an appealing source of temptation. The image calls to mind courtly love and passion. These images of sex work are misguided, Mrs. Warren observes—she approaches her profession not as a romantic, but as a realist, caring for her clients with the same clinical removal as a nurse might.
Related Themes:
Act 4
Explanation and Analysis—Words:
In Act 4, Shaw uses metaphorical language to describe the effect Mrs. Warren's profession has on her daughter, even when the name of her profession remains unspoken. Vivie does not say the words, yet she hears them and feels them on her tongue, the weight and sound of what remains unsaid hanging heavy between herself and her mother:
VIVIE. The two infamous words that describe what my mother is are ringing in my ears and struggling on my tongue; but I can't utter them: the shame of them is too horrible for me.
In this passage, Shaw uses a metaphor to suggest that certain words and ideas in society derive their power from remaining unspoken—thus, they metaphorically "ring[]" in Vivie's ears and "struggl[e]" on her tongue, two metaphorical descriptions that present the words themselves as especially powerful because they have gone unspoken. Sexual language and knowledge are among the most powerful and prominent of these unvoiced concepts. It would be a controversial choice to speak the words aloud and explicitly acknowledge Mrs. Warren as a sex worker. Doing so would be considered by many in late-Victorian European society as too bold, too explicit. Sexuality could be acknowledged in conversation in an indirect manner, but to address Mrs. Warren's profession directly would be to violate pre-existing social conventions. It is not only shame that makes the words "[struggle] on [Vivie's] tongue," but the society she lives in that restricts her from uttering them.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Breath of Spring:
In Act 4, Frank confronts Mrs. Warren about her relationship with her daughter, claiming that he despises Mrs. Warren's profession and will not stand to see Vivie associate with her any longer. Frank views Vivie as a vulnerable innocent—a good girl by nature whose purity and chastity are corrupted by her proximity to her mother. He makes this point of view clear through the use of metaphor:
FRANK. My dear Mrs Warren: suppose you were a sparrow—ever so tiny and pretty a sparrow
hopping in the roadway—and you saw a steam roller coming in your direction, would you wait for
it?MRS WARREN. Oh, dont bother me with your sparrows. What did she run away from
Haslemere like that for?
In the above passage, Frank refers to Vivie as a sparrow—innocent and fragile—and compares her mother's influence to a deadly steamroller, crushing Vivie's delicate frame in its tracks. Frank's metaphor is the answer to Mrs. Warren's subsequent query: Vivie left because she fears the proximity of her mother's reputation and how it might corrode her own. This metaphor also reveals Frank's misogynistic perception of Vivie herself, whom he wishes to treat as a fragile bird. He does not respect Vivie's self-agency or perspective on the matter.
Related Themes:
