Figures of Speech Are Not For Women: Metonymy, Rhetorical Questions, and Simile in The Calf That Frolicked in the Hall

Abstract

Language reflects the broader systems of oppression that cultivate it. These structures extend beyond institutions and into the interpersonal realm, shaping discourse itself. Ambai complicates this distinction by illustrating how her female protagonist remains an outsider despite mirroring the figurative speech of her male peers. Her innate inability to conform to masculine literary devices excludes her yet allows her to succeed in the long-term. In The Calf That Frolicked in the Hall, Ambai utilizes metonymy, rhetorical questions, and similes as a language of agency for women, while the male characters–particularly Udayan and Kadir–use the same figures of speech in ways that reflect not only patriarchal exclusion, but also the melancholia of a generation confronting the failure of its revolutionary ideals.