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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 1
Explanation and Analysis—Pigsty:
At the end of Act 1, Pegeen uses an insulting metaphor to describe Widow Quin's home:
PEGEEN. with noisy scorn.—It’s true the Lord God formed you to contrive indeed[...] Doesn’t the world know you’ve been seen shaving the foxy skipper from France for a threepenny bit and a sop of grass tobacco would wring the liver from a mountain goat you’d meet leaping the hills?
WIDOW QUIN. with amusement.—Do you hear her now, young fellow? Do you hear the way she’ll be rating at your own self when a week is by?
PEGEEN. to Christy.—Don’t heed her. Tell her to go into her pigsty and not plague us here.
Moments prior, Father Reilly and Shawn instructed Widow Quin to take Christy back to her house. Pegeen strongly disapproves, berating the widow for her violent tendencies and calling her house "her pigsty." Pegeen also claims that the widow would "wring the liver from a mountain goat" in exchange for "a threepenny bit and a sop of grass tobacco." This hypothetical example verges on metaphor and creates a vivid image of the widow's violent capabilities. The insulting metaphor of the pigsty conveys Pegeen's frustration about the attention the widow pays to Christy. Widow Quin is a 30-year-old woman who killed her husband, so it is reasonable that Pegeen might disapprove of her arrangements. To make matters worse, the widow approves four village girls to make Christy breakfast the next morning, which further incites Pegeen's jealous wrath. In the grand scheme of the story, this metaphor is not a serious slight but rather a humorous one.
Related Themes:
