Meaning & Analysis
To physically turn one's ear away from a speaker, pretending not to hear what is being said.
Insights
Willful Ignorance
The primary meaning is the conscious and deliberate act of ignoring or refusing to listen to a request, plea, warning, or piece of advice. It signifies a willful rejection of communication.
Passive Resistance
It can function as a form of passive resistance. By refusing to acknowledge an order or social pressure, an individual can defy authority or expectations without direct confrontation.
Obstinacy
The proverb can describe a state of stubbornness or closed-mindedness, where an individual refuses to consider other viewpoints or be persuaded, effectively shutting down dialogue.
Emotional Shielding
It can be a method of emotional self-preservation, where someone intentionally ignores distressing information, criticism, or emotional appeals to protect themselves from psychological discomfort.
Historical Versatility
The proverb's consistent use since the 16th century in personal, political, and spiritual contexts—from royal negotiations to religious sermons—highlights its timeless relevance in describing the universal human act of deliberate refusal.
Psychology of Willful Ignorance
The phrase powerfully illustrates the psychological concept of selective attention or motivated ignorance. The annotation 'So said of him that heares clearly, and yet will not heare' pinpoints that this is not a failure of hearing but a willful rejection of information that is inconvenient, unwelcome, or challenging to one's own position.
Power Dynamics
The act of 'turning a deaf ear' is often an assertion of power. It allows a person in a superior position (a king, a judge, a figure of authority) to dismiss pleas, advice, or demands without engagement, thereby reinforcing their dominance and the other's powerlessness.
Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
The core of the proverb is the metaphor of physical 'deafness' to represent a psychological choice to ignore someone, making an abstract refusal into a concrete, physical act.
Active Verb Imagery
The use of strong, active verbs like 'turn' and 'give' emphasizes that this is a deliberate, conscious action, not a passive condition. The choice to ignore is an event.
Idiom
The phrase is a classic idiom, as its meaning—a deliberate refusal to listen—is figurative and cannot be understood from the literal definitions of its component words alone.
Transcription
Quotations
He wotteth ful lyttel howe deffe an eare I intende to gyue hym.
She began . . to relent and to geue to them no deffe ere.
The King giveth a deaf eare to a long negotiation.
Who . . crying dayly against this horrible and beastly custome, have the deafe eare turned unto their spirituall admonitions.
Scipio Africanus for a long time gave the deafe eare unto them.
Hee playes the deafe Eare.
Turn a deaf ear to him, and do not go along with him.
Cross References
Annotations
- So said of him that heares clearly, and yet will not heare.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.