Previous
Genre
Definition of Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations intended to emphasize a point... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements... read full definition
Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Wild Delusion:
In Chapter 12, Nicholas must reject the advances of one Fanny Squeers, who is convinced that the two are destined for one another. Though Nicholas tries to reject her kindly, he eventually finds himself driven to make a more emphatic statement of protest. Doing so, he employs hyperbole:
‘Stop,’ cried Nicholas hurriedly; ‘pray hear me. This is the grossest and wildest delusion, the completest and most signal mistake, that ever human being laboured under or committed. I have scarcely seen the young lady half a dozen times, but if I had seen her sixty times, or am destined to see her sixty thousand, it would be and will be precisely the same.'
Instances of overstatement in the above passage abound: Nicholas believes Fanny's infatuation with him is "the grossest and wildest delusion, the completest and most signal mistake, that ever human being laboured under or committed." Nicholas makes this statement not because he believes the hyperbole, but rather because he is desperate to establish personal boundaries. He reaches the point of hyperbole only after he has been worn down incessantly, pushed to extremes that encourage Nicholas to contradict his own steady temperament. When not listened to, Nicholas feels the justifiable need to express his aversion to Fanny as explicitly as possible.
Chapter 27
Explanation and Analysis—Excitable:
In Chapter 27, Mr. Wititterly remarks on his wife's behavior to Sir Mulberry, downplaying and undermining Mrs. Wititterly by simply describing her nature as "excitable." During his remarks, Mr. Wititterly employs hyperbole in an attempt to discredit Mrs. Wititterly's emotions:
Julia, my dear, you must not allow yourself to be too much excited, you must not. Indeed you must not. Mrs Wititterly is of a most excitable nature, Sir Mulberry. The snuff of a candle, the wick of a lamp, the bloom on a peach, the down on a butterfly. You might blow her away, my lord; you might blow her away.
In the above excerpt, spoken by Mr. Wititterly to Sir Mulberry, the former compares his wife's emotions to the "wick of a lamp, the bloom on a peach"—all ephemeral, all fleeting. Mrs. Wititterly is so excitable, according to Mr. Wititterly, that one "might blow her away" like the snuff of a candle. This is clear overstatement, fueled by Victorian-era views on the "frailty" of the female constitution. Mr. Wititterly does not believe his wife's emotions are of consequence. He permits the general misogynistic sentiments of the era to permeate his mind, allowing them to coalesce into generalizing, hurtful, hyperbolic statements about Mrs. Wititterly's character.
Chapter 45
Explanation and Analysis—Smike, Squeers, and Love:
In the following excerpt from Chapter 45, Dickens utilizes hyperbole in character dialogue to emphasize the antagonistic relationship between Smike, Snawley, and Squeers:
‘You, sir,’ said Snawley, addressing the terrified Smike, ‘are an unnatural, ungrateful, unloveable boy. You won’t let me love you when I want to. Won’t you come home – won’t you?’
‘No, no, no,’ cried Smike, shrinking back.
‘He never loved nobody,’ bawled Squeers, through the keyhole. ‘He never loved me; he never loved Wackford, who is next door but one to a cherubim.'
Snawley and Squeers corner a terrified Smike, hurling insults at him for refusing to go with them. Both Snawley and Squeers use hyperbole in their insults, with Snawley claiming that Smike is "unlovable" and Squeers asserting that Smike has "never loved nobody." Both statements are patently untrue: Smike is more than capable of loving and being loved. Squeers and Snawley's comments reflect more on their own uncharitable, selfish dispositions.
Squeers and Snawley's derogatory use of hyperbole in this passage can be humorously juxtaposed with the complimentary hyperbole: "[Smike] never loved Wackford, who is next door but one to a cherubim." Wackford is certainly not the angel Squeers makes him out to be, suggesting—as readers should by this point know—that the man's judgement cannot be trusted.
Related Themes:
