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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
Book 1, Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Cherub:
Dickens shows his knack for names and metaphors from the very start of Our Mutual Friend and at the beginning of Book 1, Chapter 4, where he introduces Mr. Wilfer to the reader:
If the conventional Cherub could ever grow up and be clothed, he might be photographed as a portrait of Wilfer. His chubby, smooth, innocent appearance was a reason for his being always treated with condescension when he was not put down. A stranger entering his own poor house at about ten o’clock P.M. might have been surprised to find him sitting up to supper. So boyish was he in his curves and proportions, that his old schoolmaster meeting him in Cheapside, might have been unable to withstand the temptation of caning him on the spot. In short, he was the conventional cherub, after the supposititious shoot just mentioned, rather grey, with signs of care on his expression, and in decidedly insolvent circumstances.
As though imitating Mr. Wilfer’s personality, Dickens pliantly introduces the metaphor. It begins partly as an imaginative association: the narrator imagines a “photographed” cherub, then likens it to Mr. Wilfer’s “chubby, smooth, innocent appearance,” before naming him the “conventional cherub” and carrying that identification through the novel. Dickens captures Mr. Wilfer’s charming, boyish character through “cherub” but also the way in which he applies it. Like the loose comparison that inspires the metaphor, Mr. Wilfer submits to his wife’s oppressive declarations and his daughter’s teasing with angelic levels of forbearance.
“Cherub” is not the only instance in which Dickens blurs the line between informal names and metaphors. Naming makes implicit comparisons: Our Mutual Friend dubs the Veneerings’ servant the “analytical chemist,” for instance, and extends this through the rest of the work. By combining names with comparisons, Dickens adds fanciful humor and spotlights the different dimensions of his characters.
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Ogres and Princesses:
At points likening characters to birds, worms, or woodcutters, Dickens’s metaphors make a lively presence in the novel. They do so again amid the tedium of Georgiana’s 18th birthday party. In Book 1, Chapter 11, the narrator recounts Georgiana’s dread as Mr. Grompus takes her to the dance floor:
But the Ogre advanced under the pilotage of Ma, and Ma said, ‘Georgiana, Mr. Grompus,’ and the Ogre clutched his victim and bore her off to his castle in the top couple. Then the discreet automaton who had surveyed his ground, played a blossomless tuneless "set," and sixteen disciples of Podsnappery went through the figures of - 1, Getting up at eight and shaving close at a quarter past - 2, Breakfasting at nine -3, Going to the City at ten - 4, Coming home at half-past five - 5, Dining at seven, and the grand chain
In describing Mr. Grompus as an “Ogre” carrying off his “victim,” Dickens embeds yet another element of fantasy within a novel that does not lack for fairy tale references. Dickens turns towards his fairytale inclinations in this instance, as though reinforcing his earlier allusions to human-devouring wolves and magic beanstalks. Here, the trope of the ogre and distressed princess—a fairy tale staple—supplements the scene with a dose of whimsy. It negotiates the limits of reality and fiction, too. Dickens’s conceit adds a sense of melodrama within an event as mundane as a birthday party (a Podsnap birthday, no less).
Neither does this fanciful comparison conceal its more disturbing undertones. As playful as this metaphor may seem, it carries a suggestion of sexual violence. The ogre pursues the princess, a convention that adds a playful twist to Georgiana’s circumstances but strikes an eerie resonance with Lizzie’s. Within the context of this scene, the comparison supplies a slight irony as well. Courted aggressively by Mrs. Lammle, Georgiana’s most genuine ogre might actually be the one whose side she leaves.
Related Themes:
