Verbal Irony and Metaphors

Metaphor: 

Read the line: 

“My love is like a red red rose.” 

Like we have said before, the figure of speech used here is simile. 

Now, let us make a little alteration in the above line: 

“My love is a red red rose.” 

After removing like from the lines, there seem to be a slight change in its meaning. Here, instead of comparing love and rose, it treats the two things as one. 

Let us try to define a metaphor now: 

A metaphor is an implied simile. It does not declare that one item is like another or acts as another, as the simile does, but instead assumes this and proceeds as if the two things are one.  

Examples: 

• “All the world is a stage…” 
• “Life is a dream.” 
• The news was a dagger to my heart. 

Verbal irony: 

The figure of speech in which a speaker says one thing but meaning another is known as verbal irony. It can take a variety of forms and is used to add humor to a situation, anticipate future events, or create a sense of foreboding.  

In a variety of situations, verbal irony is employed. It’s possible that we’ll come across it in casual conversation, the media, or literature. Irony in speech often adds lightness to a situation, reveals double entendres, or pokes fun at it. 

Examples: 

• When Belle tells Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, “I just don’t deserve you!”, when in reality, it is the other way round. 
• In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Darcy says that his future beloved wife is “tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me.”  
• Harry says, “Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher. There was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head!” in J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. 
• Telling someone, “My day is off to a great start,” when in real your day started on a terrible note.