The Figure In The Carpet Metaphor

And yet the story in which the idiom was born henry james s 1896 tale the figure in the carpet refuses to open itself up to easy interpretations or analysis.

The figure in the carpet metaphor.

After reading the figure in the carpet i was left shrugging. Nearly every subsequent commentator has found aristotle s terse definition in some way inadequate. Complete summary of henry james the figure in the carpet. In james s the figure in the carpet the leading metaphor of a figure in a carpet is striking.

At first sight the story s title seems to have nothing in common with its plot since it deals with a critic s desperate. The problem of metaphor is inscribed in the oldest critical text of the western literary tradition. I should have known better. The figure in the carpet has become a short hand or idiom for the key to understanding a writer s work.

As karsten harries has. Metaphor aristotle tells us is the application of an alien name by transference poetics 99. Vereker dismisses his efforts explaining that all critics have missed my little point the particular thing i ve written my books most for the thing for the critic to find my secret like a complex figure in a persian carpet. Pdf on jan 1 2002 yanna popova published the figure in the carpet find read and cite all the research you need on researchgate.

James just gives me the impression of being too clever for his own good. Enotes plot summaries cover all the significant action of the figure in the carpet. The occurring metaphors in both stories make a contribution to the reader s need of detecting the stories meanings. I enjoyed the ride and naïvely enough waited for a satisfying unveiling of the mysterious figure in the carpet.