The use of metaphor in Charles Dickens' novel "hard times"

الملخص EN

The present paper is an attempt to investigate and analyze one main rhetorical device used by Charles Dickens in hard times which is the metaphor.

the study aims to highlight the use of the above-mentioned device and its notion as well as its structure to search the motive behind using such device in the novel.

the study is analytical descriptive, based on analyzing and interpreting metaphors, including the structural components of this device such as the tenor, the vehicle and the shared ground.

from the analysis, dickens overuses metaphor in the novel to describe his fictional places, his characters and their action and feelings.

this inquiry reveals that Charles Dickens succeed in criticizing the ills of the Victorian society by the overuse of this rhetorical device.