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Definition of Imagery
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain imagery that engages... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines... read full definition
Key Examples in A Tale of Two Cities
Book 2, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Feasting Eyes:
In Darnay’s two courtroom scenes, Dickens merges the act of looking with the act of devouring, turning observers into violent consumers. In Book 2, Chapter 2, Dickens describes the attitude of the spectators in the British court:
Eager faces strained round pillars and corner, to get a sight of him; spectators in back rows stood up, not to miss a hair of him; people on the floor of the court, laid their hands on the shoulders of the people before them, to help themselves, at anybody’s cost, to a view of him… The accused […] was (and […] knew he was) being mentally hanged, beheaded, and quartered by everybody there.
Related Themes:
Book 2, Chapter 22
Explanation and Analysis—Religious Imagery:
The violent cries of the peasant women recall images of pagan fertility rituals and the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist. Calling for the murder of Foulon, the French Controller-General of Finances, the women yell:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Foulon who told the starving people they might eat grass! Give us the blood of Foulon, Give us the head of Foulon, Give us the heart of Foulon, Give us the body and soul of Foulon, Rend Foulon to pieces, and dig him into the ground, that grass may grow from him!
Related Themes:
Book 3, Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Windows of Heaven:
Dickens uses the image of a flood and of the heavens opening to contrast revolutionary energy with Christian faith:
Unlock with LitCharts A+What private solicitude could rear itself against the deluge of the Year One of Liberty—the deluge rising from below, not falling from above, and with the windows of Heaven shut, not opened!
Related Themes:
Book 3, Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Feasting Eyes:
In Darnay’s two courtroom scenes, Dickens merges the act of looking with the act of devouring, turning observers into violent consumers. In Book 2, Chapter 2, Dickens describes the attitude of the spectators in the British court:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Eager faces strained round pillars and corner, to get a sight of him; spectators in back rows stood up, not to miss a hair of him; people on the floor of the court, laid their hands on the shoulders of the people before them, to help themselves, at anybody’s cost, to a view of him… The accused […] was (and […] knew he was) being mentally hanged, beheaded, and quartered by everybody there.
Related Themes:
