Conceit

Literary term · say it kun-SEET

A conceit is an elaborate, surprising comparison between things that seem very different. It develops the connection through several details, inviting readers to follow an unusual idea rather than simply notice a resemblance.

Two traditional kinds of conceit

Metaphysical conceit

This kind links strikingly different things through a closely reasoned comparison. It often uses everyday objects or scientific ideas to explore love, faith, or death.

In A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, two lovers are compared to the legs of a drawing compass. One stays in place while the other travels, yet their connection guides the moving leg back home.

In A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning by John Donne

Petrarchan conceit

This kind explores love through elaborate comparisons, often presenting the lover as suffering or helpless. Familiar images include storms, fire, ice, and a beloved whose beauty offers guidance.

In sonnet 189 of Canzoniere, the lover's troubled life becomes a ship crossing a dangerous sea. His beloved's eyes are the guiding stars that he can no longer see.

In Canzoniere by Petrarch

How to spot a conceit

Look for a comparison between things that seem far apart.
Trace how several details extend the same comparison.
Ask what the unusual connection reveals about the subject.

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What is the difference between a conceit and a metaphor?

A conceit is usually a particularly elaborate or surprising metaphor. A metaphor may make its point in a few words, while a conceit asks readers to follow several linked details or a whole argument built around the comparison.

Does conceit mean vanity in literature?

As a literary term, conceit means an elaborate comparison, not vanity. In everyday speech, the same word can mean excessive pride. The context helps: a discussion of imagery or poetry usually points to the literary meaning.