Connotation

Connotation definition
Connotation refers to a meaning implied by a word that is different from what it explicitly describes. Words have cultural and emotional associations or meanings in addition to their literal meanings or designations.

For example, “Wall Street” literally means a street in Lower Manhattan, but connotatively it refers to wealth and power.

Positive and negative connotations
Words can be positive or negative Have connotations that depend on the individual's social, cultural, and personal experiences. For example, the words childish, childish, and youthful have the same denotative but different connotative meanings. Children and children have a negative connotation as they refer to a person's immature behavior. Meanings are shaped by cultural and emotional associations:
40a 4 "He's such a dog." - In this sense, the word dog means shamelessness or ugliness.
"That woman is a heart dove." - Here, the dove implies peace or gentleness.
"There is no place like home." - While home can refer to the actual building someone lives in, connotatively, most of the time it refers to family, comfort, and security.
"What do you expect from a politician?" - Political has a negative connotation of meanness and insincerity. To imply sincerity, the word statesman could be used.
"That woman is so pushy!" - Pushy refers to someone who talks loudly, insists and irritates.
“My mom and dad worked hard so that I could go to college. ”- The words mom and dad, when used in place of mother and father, mean loving parents rather than just biological parents.
Examples of connotation in literature
In literature, it is customary among writers to deviate from the literal meaning of words in examples examples of such deviations are examples of such deviations.

Example 1: Sonnet 18 (by William Shakespeare)
Metaphors are words that designate meanings that go beyond their literal meanings. Shakespeare in Sonnet 18 says:

"Should I compare you to a summer day ..."

Here the expression "a summer day" implies the fairness of his beloved.

Example 2: The sunrise (by John Donne)
Similarly, John Donne says in his poem The sunrise says:

“She is all states and all princes, I.”

This line suggests the speaker's belief that he and his beloved are richer than all states, kingdoms and rulers around the world. Example 3: The merchant of Venice (by William Shakespeare)
Irony and satire have connotative meanings because the intended meanings of words are opposite to their literal meanings. For example, we see a sarcastic remark from Antonio to Shylock the Jew in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice:

“Here you are, gentle Jew.
The Hebrew becomes a Christian: He becomes kind.

The word “Jew” generally had a negative connotation of malice, while “Christian” had positive connotations of kindness.

Example 4: The Animal Farm (by George Orwell)
George Orwell's allegorical novel Animal Farm is full of examples of connotation The Actions of Animals on the Farm illustrate the greed and corruption that arose after Russia's communist revolution. The pigs in the novel represent evil and powerful people who can change a society's ideology. Also Mr. Jones (the owner of the farm), represents the overthrown Tsar Nicholas II; and boxer, the horse, represents the working class.

Example 5: Julius Caesar (by William Shakespeare)
Metonymy is another idiom that uses connotative or suggested meanings as it describes one thing by mentioning something else with which it is to For example, Mark Anthony says in Act III of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar:

“Friends, Romans, compatriots, lend me your ears.”

Here the word “ear” means the idea that people should listen carefully to him.

Example 6: Out, Out (by Robert Frost)
Read the following lines from Robert Frost's poem Out, Out:

"When he swung over to her and held up his hand line" Life before the spill ", the word" Life " means "blood". It also makes sense because blood loss can cause death.

Example # 7: As You Like It (by William Shakespeare)
Connotation provides the basis for symbolic meanings of words as the symbolic meanings of objects differ from their literal meaning The world is a stage,
, and all men and women are just players ;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And a man in his time plays many roles… ”

Here a stage designates the world; Players propose people; and parts imply different stages of their life.

Function of the connotation
In literature, connotation paves the way for creativity by using idioms such as metaphor, simile, symbolism and personification. If writers had been content with literal meanings, there would have been no way of comparing abstract ideas with concrete concepts to give readers a better understanding. Connotative meanings of words therefore enable writers to add dimensions to their works that are broader, more alive, and fresher.

Conflict Consonance