摘要：In this article we argue that the rhetorical fi gures of metaphor and simile, as two persuasive devices that characterise the style of the essay of Virginia Woolf, possess a cognitive value different from the simple use of the identifi cation and contraposition of elements, in the case of metaphor, and the comparison in the case of simile. In the essays analysed, the use of these tropes imply the recognition of the grammatical elements and its meaning, which must needs transcend the textual level to enter the contextual domain as far as cultural and ideological traits that the reader should perceive and enjoy.
