Figuration Is Fundamental To Our World, To Our Lives
Figurative language uses words to invoke a deeper understanding of the message they carry. Figurative language compares, contrasts or associates words with the main aim of producing a deeper meaning out of a word or words, or a combination thereof. The use of plain words with normal meaning seldom invokes one’s attention and therefore might not draw their thoughts to understand deeper meanings or messages intended (Bennett, & Royle, 2014). However, the use of figurative language draws attention and hence invokes the reader’s mind to think deeply and understand the message that figurative language carries. Figurative language does not start and end by the twists or decoration which it puts forth in speech or language, as Bennet and Royle argued, figurative language goes deep and is fundamental to our world and our lives.
In the poem, the line “It is a good divine that follows his own instructions” if tropes. As we know it, divine power has no human identity. However, divine power has been personified and is even referred to as a “he” to denote a male. Conceiving the idea of sexual difference, one then relates the personification in this line to the sexual differences that has encompassed humanity in the world today (Ragland & Bracher, 2014). It’s is acceptable worldwide for a country to be referred to as a “she.” It is also very common for people to refer to a car as a “she.” Though one would argue that in the case of a car, there is that aspect of associating the appeal of the car to the beauty of a woman, on the other side of the sexual divide are men who also have an outward appeal which can be associated with a car. Personification concerning sexual difference also comes out when people compare the abilities of certain objects. For example, a machine gun, which is considered to be a very effective and modern weapon, is colloquially referred to as a “he.” This use of personification in such instances hence invokes our deeper understanding of how the society perceives both men and women in the society (Ragland & Bracher, 2014).
Continuing in the same line, “It is easy to teach twenty what is good to be done, than being one of the twenty to follow my own teachings,” an irony is expressed. It is easier to know what is good and even teach others about it, but it is very difficult to do as required of the knowledge of what is good. A typical example of an irony as conceptualized in the context of sexual difference is the life of English writer and poet, George Elliot. She is perceived as one of the pioneers of feminists’ movement in the Victorian period. It was therefore expected of her to uphold her identity as a woman and champion for the rights of women. It’s important, however, not note that “George Elliot” was her male pen name as her actual name was Marry Ann Evans (Carroll, 2013). She used her male pen name to conceal her identity; this brings out the irony in the context that Marry Ann, a feminist, who has set out to fight for the rights of women, conceal her identity in a male name. Just as per the line quoted from the poem, Elliot knows what to do to achieve her goal of getting equal rights for women, it’s, however, ironical that she finds it difficult to follow her teachings and hides behind the identity of a male name (Carroll, 2013).
In William Shakespeare’s play Merchant of Venice, the irony when it comes to sexual differences is expressed in through the character Portia. She was a learned and rich woman. As at the time, wealth was a consideration when it came to marriage and women had a preference for women to marry wealthy men (Halio, 2006). Although Portia had such preferred suitors, it is ironical that she, being a woman, decides to marry Bassanio, a poor man. In the poem, the lines, “I may neither choose who I would, nor refuse to who I dislike, so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father,” also illustrate an irony (Bennett, & Royle, 2014). A living daughter’s will curbed by the will of her dead father is an ironical situation for it’s not possible that a dead person can influence the decisions of the living. When one conceptualizes this in the world today, a picture of a society that is bound by norms and myths that are believed to be from dead ancestors surfaces. Looking at men and women in the society today, the “will” of their dead fathers that they should always provide for their families, and that of women that they only second to men is ironical. There is no will from the past generation that binds men and women to assume the positions they have in the world today. It is, therefore, ironical that with the non-existence of such a will, women and men still believe that they are bound by some forces to assume certain roles in the society.
A look at the two major topes highlighted in the above discussions relates well to the sexual differences in our society today. However, it almost seems that with the use of plain language to show the sexual differences that exist in the society, our thoughts are seldom invoked to think of and understand more about the pertinent issues of concerns. On the other hand, it is true that use of tropes to portray some of the issues surrounding sexual differences in the world captures our attention and enables us to focus more on these matters. Figurative language, therefore, eliminates the element of triviality that plain language has always given to important issues. As Bennet and Royle argued, far from merely playing the function of “beautifying” language, the figuration of language goes deep and is fundamental to our world and our lives.
References
Carroll, D. (2013). George Eliot: the critical heritage. Routledge.
Veale, T., & Hao, Y. (2007, July). Comprehending and generating apt metaphors: a web-driven, case-based approach to figurative language. In AAAI (Vol. 2007, pp. 1471-1476).
Ragland-Sullivan, E., & Bracher, M. (2014). Lacan and the Subject of Language (RLE: Lacan). Routledge.
Halio, J. L. (2006). The Merchant of Venice (review). Shakespeare Bulletin, 24(2), 63-68.
Bennett, A., & Royle, N. (2014). An introduction to literature, criticism and theory. Routledge.
