What Is Euphemism?

Euphemism is a literary device where something is expressed as mildly as possible so as to not cause offense. It is also known as understatement. One of the most famous examples of euphemism is in Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" (1842):

Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt,

Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without

Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;

Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands

As if alive.

The poem is a dramatic monologue by a Duke who sentenced his wife to death for smiling innocently at other men. Her death is described mildly as "all smiles stopped together." Euphemism is typically used to avoid offense. Here, its use reveals the cold nature of the duke and the fact that he may well be psychopathic.

The duke is a monstrous man; however, he is cultured and full of learning and wealth, with a high social status. The euphemism or understatement used here allows him to put on a show of manners without coming across as a brute to the person he is speaking to. In this article, we discuss why writers use euphemism and give more examples from Robert Browning and William Blake.

Portrait of Robert Browning by Herbert Rose Barraud, c. 1888.

Why writers use euphemism

Writers use euphemism as a literary device for several reasons. However, the main one is to avoid offense or to come across as polite. It can be used to politely describe things such as sexual intercourse and death. It can also be used as a form of irony.

In our previous example of "The Last Duchess," Euphemism is used to reveal the irony between the polite manners of the duke describing how he had his wife killed over nothing and the horrid act itself. The irony reveals that we are listening to an insane man who thinks of himself as God-like in the power that he possesses over others.

Examples of euphemism

Euphemism is used as a form of censorship to describe sexual intercourse and murder. Let's look at another example of a dramatic monologue from Robert Browning.

1. Browning, Porphyria's Lover (1836):

Be sure I looked up at her eyes

       Happy and proud; at last I knew

Porphyria worshipped me; surprise

       Made my heart swell, and still it grew

       While I debated what to do.

That moment she was mine, mine, fair,

       Perfectly pure and good: I found

A thing to do, and all her hair

       In one long yellow string I wound

       Three times her little throat around,

And strangled her. No pain felt she;

       I am quite sure she felt no pain.

The poem describes a man who decides to strangle his lover, Porphyria, to death. He does so for a peculiar reason. At the moment, he was sure that she loved him and knowing that love is something that always changes, he decides to make this love permanent by strangling her to death. The poem states clearly he "strangled her."

There's no euphemism there. However, there is understaemen in how he describes the process by which he came to make that decision. It is casually described as "I found / A thing to do." It sounds as if he just haphazardly discovered a new hobby to while away the hours. Instead, he's talking about killing his lover for no earthly reason. The euphemism used here portrays the speaker as a man who has no regard for conventional human morality. It also suggests the idea that love can be suffocating and maddening.

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So far, we have had two examples from Browning of men who end up killing their spouses for nothing at all. However, love does not always have to be so bleak. Now, is time for something lighter. Here is one example of euphemism being used to describe conventional love, where no one gets killed:

Blake, "Song: How Sweet I Roam'd From Field to Field" (1783):

How sweet I roam'd from field to field,

         And tasted all the summer's pride,

'Till I the prince of love beheld,

         Who in the sunny beams did glide!

He shew'd me lilies for my hair,

         And blushing roses for my brow;

He led me through his gardens fair,

         Where all his golden pleasures grow.

With sweet May dews my wings were wet,

         And Phoebus fir'd my vocal rage;

He caught me in his silken net,

         And shut me in his golden cage.

He loves to sit and hear me sing,

         Then, laughing, sports and plays with me;

Then stretches out my golden wing,

         And mocks my loss of liberty.

Well, no one gets killed, although someone ends up in a cage by the end of the poem, which is an improvement. The poem is an allegory for how love leads to obligations that seem like imprisonment. "And blushing roses for my brow" is a euphemism for kissing. The two lines that come after it and that culminate with "Where all his golden pleasures grow" have sexual connotations, as do the lines referring to sweet May dews. The poet is using euphemisms to tastefully describe the sexual act.

The poem, as mentioned earlier, is an allegory showing how love leads to oppression. This is not said out loud. Instead, it is implied as the subtext of the poem. That is, the hidden meaning behind the obvious story. Understatement is somewhat related to subtext as they both suggest a type of writing where the author relies on more subtle writing that relies on suggestiveness and hints without saying anything out loud or directly.

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Cite this EminentEdit article

Antoine, M. (2024, December 5). What is Euphemism? EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/what-is-euphemism