Examples Of Similes In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Simile: A simile is a comparison of two very different subjects using like or as. It is a figure of speech used to make writing more vivid and to help the reader have a more complete understanding of the subject through a possibly unconventional comparison. A good example of a simile is in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream where Thisbe is describing Pyramus and says,“With hands as pale as milk.” Shakespeare does not literally mean that Pyramus has hands the exact color of milk; he uses the common reference of milk to give the reader an idea of how pale the hands are. With the comparison of hands to milk, Shakespeare is also conjuring the idea that the hands may be white, fair, and smooth for the reader without having to state it outright. The comparison impacts the plot of the play as it shows how in love Thisbe is with Pyramus because pale white and smooth skin was considered the most beautiful in the Elizabethan Era.

Example: “‘Are all the doors of the house shut?’ asked Marvel. ‘He's going round--prowling round. He's as artful as the devil.’”
Wells, H.G. The Invisible Man.

Wells’s The Invisible Man is about a man who is invisible physically and emotionally. When he visits a new town at the beginning of the novel on his quest to find a cure for his condition, he is met with prejudice and treated as an outsider. This treatment is largely due to his anger toward the townspeople, which is a reflection of his own internal struggle. As the novel progresses and the townspeople and the reader try to understand the conflict of The Invisible Man, Wells uses similes to aid in the understanding of what the main character experiences. Since neither the townspeople nor the reader can comprehend what it may be like to be physically invisible, Wells uses similes to compare The Invisible Man to things with which each are