The spread of news
It's some time since I noted this simile for the effective spread of news. Now, re-reading it as we watch...
An empty head for the devil to dance in
Bartle Massey runs a night school with a will of iron, and thinks precious little of the half-baked students who...
The embers of resentment
How many families or other relationships does this describe? The embers of resentment suddenly fanned into flame by a passing...
Life-long joy
One of the curious things about Hetty is that George Eliot shows her no mercy, and inspires none in us. ...
A packet of yellow love letters
What happened to all those love letter in a private drawer, sent and kept over centuries when this was the...
Wrung from the soul
Maggie Tulliver is a deep-feeling woman of painful sincerity, and here words are wrung from her, with a wrenching simile.
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Like morning on the flowers
Such a gentle, loving look this implies, but in the end neither of the two lovers wants to take the...
The garment of silence
The hum of insects, bees buzzing about the flowers, can be one of the most soothing of sounds and George...
Gutter thinking
This is Bartle Massey, he of the blade-sharp tongue, laying into the so-called students who come to him for learning.
...
As irrelevant as…
Poor Mr. Dickson, but what a strong simile for irrelevance in the brightness of daylight.
'Mr. Dickson leaning...
Of sunlight and apricots
George Eliot refers here to the joy of childhood which we often don't remember consciously, though it is woven into...
Frivolity folly
This describes pretty Hetty utterly unprepared, and incapable of becoming prepared, for mature, meaningful relationships. It's also an early intimation...
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