By the Bog of Cats

By the Bog of Cats Metaphors and Similes

"Like a rabid pup" (Simile)

Catwoman uses this simile to describe Hester's mistreatment at the hands of her mother as a young girl. She remembers "when [Hester] were chained like a rabid pup to this auld caravan." She uses a simile to describe the fact that Hester's mother's abuse turned Hester into a "rabid pup," a wild thing that has no one to take care of it.

"Gnawed and sucked" (Metaphor)

In an argument with Carthage, Hester tells him that he "gnawed and sucked till all that's left is an auld bone ya think to fling on the dung hill." She uses this metaphor to describe the fact that she feels used and abused by Carthage, taken advantage of and mistreated.

"...like it was your shadow" (Simile)

In the first scene, the Ghost Fancier asks Hester about the swan corpse she is dragging through the snow, comparing it to her shadow. He says, "What're you doin' draggin' the corpse of a swan behind ya like it was your shadow?" This sets up a symbolic parallel between the swan and Hester.

"...like two rocks we are" (Simile)

In a conversation with Monica, Hester compares her relationship to Carthage to "two rocks...grindin' off of wan another and maybe all the closer for that." She thinks that their contentious relationship, rough though it may be, is perhaps what brings them closer.

"Came and went like the moon" (Simile)

In a conversation in the third act, Monica compares Hester's mother to the moon, to describe the way she was inconsistent and always leaving and abandoning her maternal duties.

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