Figurative Language in The Lymond Chronicles

Overview and Issue

Article on DD's skill in how she uses figurative language to engage her readers.
WG114

Abstract

The author explores how: "...‘[a] reader coming fresh to the Lymond novels must notice first of all the brilliant colours of their world. There is colour in the landscape ... in the background detail ... and above all in the people who crowd the pages . Dorothy Dunnett unlocks these sounds, smells and colours for her readers through her use of figurative language, ranging from individual use of simile and metaphor to the overarching themes, including the chess metaphor of the titles of the six novels...". She defines the difference between similes and metaphors as essentially one between explicit and implicit imagery. The article is an academic treatment and contains many scholarly footnotes which will not all be noted in this summary. In summarising, the author finally notes that "...in literature figurative language tends to make the work more accessible by increasing the descriptive force of the narrative and intensifying the emotional impact and entertainment value of the work....The Lymond Chronicles are evidence not only of her talent as a master storyteller but also as an advocate of the English language and the ways in which it can be transformed by its elements; the six novels are filled with ‘those images that yet fresh images beget’."

Author

Jennifer Newton

Dunnett Book Citations

GOK 4.2 GOK 4.4
QP 1.1 QP 1.5 QP1.6 QP 2.4 QP 2.5) QP 3.4 QP 3.6 QP 3.7 QP 4.3 QP 4.5
DK 2.3 DK 2.4 DK 2.5 DK 2.9 DK 3.2 DK 3.8 DK 3.12 DK 3.14 DK 3.15
PIF 1 PIF 6 PIF 10 PIF 11 PIF 13 PIF 15 PIF 18 PIF 19 PIF 21
RC 1.1 RC 1.7 RC 2.5 RC 3.1 RC 3.2 RC 3.9 RC 3.11
CM 3.7 CM 4.2 CM 4.3 CM 4.4

Historical People

Fictional Characters

Locations

Blois
Fontainebleau
Trondheim Fjord
North-west coast of Scotland
Gozo
Constantinople

Bibliography

Moira Burgess, “The Modern Historical Tradition” in Douglas Gifford and Dorothy McMillan (Eds) A History of Scottish Women’s Writing (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997).
Stephen J Brown, The World of Imagery: Metaphor and Kindred Imagery (New York: Russell & Russell, 1966).
Naomi Schor, ‘Blindness as Metaphor’ in differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies Vol. 11, No. 2 (Summer 1999).
Ted Cohen, ‘Metaphor, Feeling, and Narrative’ in Philosophy and Literature, Vol. 21, Issue 2 (October 1997).
See the Article for all works noted by the author.

Literature

None

Illustrations and Photos

The garden of love with chess players – three couples assembled in a garden, enclosed by a fence; one lover to the right is depicted as a jester. Engraving, 1450–1467. © Trustees of the British Museum.

Historical Events

Richard Chancellor's journey to Russia to help open a trade route and agreement between Muscovy and England and the subsequent sinking of his ship, the Edward Bonaventure.
Ottoman attack on Malta and Tripoli. 1551

Quotes from Dunnett

None