“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;/Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;” (1-2) When one reads those lines in Shakespeare’s “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun”, to a normal eye it may seem as if Shakespeare is attacking his mistress with harmful words for no reason in disgust. But in contrast, if one looks closer throughout the poem, one begins to find abnormalities in its text, to some individuals it would simply state it as just gibberish. As it turns out, Shakespeare was only poking fun at how others would never would have a relationship as pure as his; any other individual would paint their mistress out to be a beyond what she actually is. That gibberish is just one of the literary techniques that authors put in place …show more content…
The use of symbolism gives a reader something to contemplate over; such as, a hidden meaning in its text. For instance, in Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar talks about the coat of arms of Montresor (the main character of the story) “A huge human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel” (Poe 210). After reading the text, the reader can figure what was the true meaning of the arms. The foot symbolizes Fortunato stumping on the snake, which is Montresor and all the while it will be him getting the last laugh by imbedding his fangs into the heel of his foot. Therefore, it infers that Montresor’s revenge by killing Fortunato in his belief, based on his family’s coat of arms, is justified. Another form of symbolism is from Shirley Jackson’s work, “The Lotter” in the story she foretells about a mysterious black box “There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here.” (Jackson 259-260) The story is about a lottery and because of tradition whoever has their name drawn from it gets murdered. The box symbolizes how humans are willing to stick with tradition no matter how immoral or worn out it …show more content…
“And the, neutralizing gravity with love and pure will, they remained suspended in air inches below the ceiling, and they kissed each other for a long, long time.” (Vonnegut Jr. 221) In Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s poem “Harrison Bergeron” Vonnegut did not truly mean they remained everlastingly in the air kissing, this is a figure of speech. Moreover, he wanted the reader to imagine them being larger than life itself for a moment of which they were above anything else all the while being majestic and fantasizing in the process. In T. Coraghessan Boyle’s story, “Greasy Lake” he wrote “I put the car in gear and it inched forward with a groan, shaking off pellets of glass like an old dog shedding water after, heaving over the ruts on its worn springs, creeping toward the highway.” (Boyle 302). Boyle gives the car human characteristics to show the reader that it is badly beaten up and worn down. The car is indicative to the main character if he was to stay on the course of being “bad” (Boyle
Many novels have used symbolism to express certain feelings and emotions in discreet ways. What is symbolism? "The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships" (Dictionary.com). Numerous authors use the same denotations to illustrate different thoughts or ideas. Mark Twain uses various symbols, such as the river and the land to expose freedom and trouble in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Symbolism is a major literary device that helps people see a book through symbols that often have a deeper meaning. A symbol is used to explain something in a different way, using images, objects, etc. instead of just saying it in words. As you search for a deeper meaning in a work of art or literature it can help you understand the authors intentions and the deeper significance of a work. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, symbols help reinforce the major themes of the book.
To begin with, the use of symbolism creates obscurity, and causes the reader to examine the story. To further explain, the symbols also causes the reader to look deeper into the story's meaning, as it creates an interaction between the story and the reader. As a result, it enhances the effectiveness of the story. For example, a quote in the story states, “We all dancer an Owl dance, a Friendship dance, and a couple of Circle dances”(Sears 21).
Symbolism is used in many ways and writers use symbolism to “enhance their writing.” It can give their work “more richness and color and can make the meaning of the work deeper.” In literary work the actions of the characters, words, action, place, or event has a deeper meaning in the context of the whole story. The reader needs to look see the little things like a dove symbolizes peace, or like the red rose stands for romance. Mostly everything can have a symbolism meaning to it. For instance the flag symbolizes freedom and the stars represent the states. Even some signs are symbols like when a beaker has a skull with a bones placed like an ‘x’ behind it symbolizes that it’s toxic or bad. When people see the red light when driving that’s
Many authors often use symbolism to express a deeper meaning. They use the symbols to connect an unrelated thought or feeling into their literary work they are writing. Edgar Allan Poe frequently uses this literary device in his works. Symbols are many times seen in his poems and in his short stories. Many symbols are evident in Poe’s works “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Black Cat.” Because Poe’s works are typically dark, his use of symbols is in a dark way. Although there are many types of symbols manifested in these stories, Poe’s works generally include a symbol that eludes death or the end of something and many include references of sight and vision.
Literary elements such as symbolism are found in almost any piece of writing. Symbolism is used to portray the deeper meaning of something by representing it with anything the writer chooses. In the short story, ¨Cathedral,¨ Raymond Carver uses many forms of symbolism to portray the different events and their meanings within his writing.
Using symbolism can take your story to a whole new level by showing us how each character feels in additional it can make a person or even an objects stand out a whole lot more. In Eudora Welty they used symbolism in many different ways that you can even notice them right away.
Readers think that when you look deeper into stories you can find lots of symbolism that reveals things in the text that you would never think would happen. For example, it doesn't come out and say that the bucket represents Nellies
What is the use of symbolism in writing? Is it merely to confuse the reader or is its true intent to make the reader think about the meaning of the story? A symbol is a person, object, or event that suggests more than its literal meaning (Meyer 220). In Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants," Hemingway uses a plethora of symbols to convey the idea that the young girl, Jig is ambivalent to having an abortion and that her older American boyfriend does not want to have the baby. Although the word abortion is never used in the story, the reader understands the concept through Hemingway's symbolism.
In “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun,” poet William Shakespeare describes his love for a woman that throughout the poem he states is nothing special to most but special to him. Shakespeare uses imagery, similes, metaphors, alliteration, and irony to show the reader all love poems do not have to be the same but still profess the love one has for another.
Symbolism is a literary technique that is used to clarify the author's intent. Sometimes it is used to great effect, while other times it only seems to muddle the meaning of a passage. In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne uses objects and people as symbols to allegorically reveal his message to the reader.
In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Cather’s “Wagner’s Matinee”, Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Rope, and Collette’s “The Secret Woman” all use symbols and each of those symbols are revealed about each character of those stories.
Firstly, symbols can often foreshadow thematic events. For example, in the short story “Big Boy,” the protagonist is found locked in a washroom with a big piece of turd. This turd symbolizes an obstacle in life when someone knocks on the door. The protagonist has undeniable truth since he is the only one around the monster, making it seem like he was the one who created it. With that, one can foreshadow that this protagonist will either persevere through it and emerge victorious, or the turd will be his downfall.
Symbolism is very important in a novel because it can be based of an object, person or situation that have a deeper meaning in context. There are many clues in the 12 stories of The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes that are symbols. In pg.50, Julia Stoner’s dying words are, “It was the band! The speckled band!” One would believe that there is some hidden meaning that could symbolize family or trust since they
The title of the poem “My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun” suggests that the speaker is not in love with his ‘mistress’. However, this is not the case. Shakespeare uses figurative language by using criticizing hyperboles to mock the traditional love sonnet. Thus, showing not only that the ideal woman is not always a ‘goddess’, but mocking the way others write about love. Shakespeare proves that love can be written about and accomplished without the artificial and exuberant. The speaker’s tone is ironic, sarcastic, and comical turning the traditional conceit around using satire. The traditional iambic pentameter rhyming scheme of the sonnet makes the diction fall into place as relaxed, truthful, and with elegance in the easy flowing verse. In turn, making this sonnet one of parody and real love.