Metaphor as Plot
The basic plot of the story—well, the driving mechanism behind the plot, anyway—is laid out in metaphor early on. Consider it the historical play version of a certain well-known pop song about enjoying large derrieres and the inability to deny that fact:
“Thuh gals got bottoms like hot air balloons.
Bottoms and bottoms and bottoms pilin up like
like 2 mountains. Magnificent. And endless.”
A Certain Girl
There’s a certain girl you will hear of a lot of times. What’s her name? I can’t tell you. But she’s got a nickname:
“Have you heard about
the rump she has (though strange it be)
Large as a cauldron pot?
This is why men go to see
The Venus Hottentot.”
Slang
A common use of metaphor is everyday slang. Of course, slang is an aspect of language subject to change and variation. This can be sad because some old slang that has gone out of everyday use is fun and should be brought back. Especially certain insults directed toward calling someone stupid without being quite so mean:
“Don’t be a gumball, kid.”
A Detailed Physical Description
And by detailed, they mean detailed. Imagery-laden description from the head down and most of it not exactly affirming:
“Her ears were much like those found in monkeys. Small, weakly formed at the tragus, and vanishing behind almost completely.”
“The African Dancing Princess”
Quick: what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word princess? Could be England. The Venus Hottentot is being urged to go to England and be presented as “The African Dancing Princess. Of course, she has trouble seeing herself as this. But the idea must be sold and so the sellers to work:
THE GIRL: A Princess? Me?
THE BROTHER: Like Cinderella. She’s heard of Cinderella, right?
THE GIRL: A princess overnight.
