Simile vs. Metaphor
Definitions:
- A simile is a comparison of two things, using the words like or as.
- A metaphor is a comparison of two things without using the words like or as.
Hints:
- A simile makes parts of things similar, but not equal, to each other. It more than likely will use the word like or as to compare the two things.
- A metaphor makes parts of things equal to each other. It will never use the words like or as to compare, but will often times use the words are or is.
Simple Example of Simile:
- His arms snapped like a twig when he fell out of the tree.
The way his bone snapped (broke) ≠ the way a twig snaps (breaks). But they are similar to each other.
Sophisticated Example of Simile:
- Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
While this does not use the words like or as, it is still a simile. The speaker is not saying to his audience "you are a summer day" but instead is comparing them to a summer day and explaining how they are similar. This is not a metaphor because it is making two things similar, not equal to, each other.
Simple Example of Metaphor:
- "My heart is a butterfly when you’re around."
Here, the author’s heart is being compared as equal to a butterfly whenever the other person is around.
Sophisticated Example of Metaphor
"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she."
(Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare; II, ii, 2-6)
Here, Juliet (or more accurately her beauty) is being compared to that of the sun. The two thins are being made equal here, not just similar.