Metaphor: Prominent Views and Critical Assessments

This paper aims at shedding light on some theories and views behind meaning transference in metaphor. The main motive behind handling this article is to show the complexity and pervasiveness of this linguistic device. Metaphor obscures its literal meaning while allowing a new understanding toemerge. Also, it can give concrete illustrations of objects. Most readers find abstractions alien to them that they need a concrete statement such as the one the analogy provides. In fact, metaphor is considered as a powerfu device whenever one describes a new situation in terms of what has been described before.