Metaphor and Simile in the Minor Elizabethan Drama (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from Metaphor and Simile in the Minor Elizabethan Drama In spite however of the endeavor towards an objective and analytical method, such a study as this must be largely subjective. N o attempt is made to take into consideration all metaphor and simile occurring in the authors studied, nor are metaphor and simile, according to the stricter definitions of some writers upon rhetoric and poetics, alone regarded. All tropes (in the ancient sense of the word), in which imagination is felt to be present, are con sidered. Incarnate or faded metaphors are generally neglected, except so far as they illustrate the peculiar diction of dramatic poetry at the time. In general only the more striking, individual, and conscious images are fully enumerated. Of course in such a method the personal equation cannot be entirely elim inated. Quotations of striking and significant tropes will be made to as great an extent as the necessary limits of this paper will permit; in order to save space, page references to standard editions (see bibliographical index), rather than to act and scene, are made for all less important tropes. The sums total of the references under each head and under each author are annexed.' From the preceding explanations, however, it will be understood that these enumerations are more or less inexact and have no abso lute validity but they should be valid for purposes of comparison and generalization. If the limits of space had permitted it would doubtless have been profitable to continue this study so as to include the entire body of the drama from Gorboduc to the closing of the theatres, or at least all the chief dramatists of that period, and to introduce a more constant comparison and refer ence to Shakspere as the great master of dramatic imagery. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.