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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Act 2, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Tereus and Philomela:
After sneaking into Imogen’s bedroom by hiding in a chest, Iachimo makes close observations about her body in order to deceive Posthumus into believing that he has slept with her, thereby winning their bet by cheating. In this scene, Shakespeare alludes to the myth of Tereus and Philomela. Watching Imogen as she sleeps, Iachimo notes that:
She hath been reading late
The tale of Tereus; here the leaf’s turned down
Where Philomel gave up. I have enough.
To th’ trunk again, and shut the spring of it.
Swift, swift, you dragons of the night, that dawning
May bare the raven’s eye. I lodge in fear.
Though this a heavenly angel, hell is here.
Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—The Road to Execution:
In a moment of grim comedy punctuated by dramatic irony, Imogen unknowingly foreshadows later events in the play. When Pisanio attempts to moderate her excitement about Posthumus's apparent return to Britain and suggests that they could travel no more than 20 miles in a day, Imogen responds impatiently:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Why, one that rode to's execution, man,
Could never go so slow: I have heard of riding wagers,
Where horses have been nimbler than the sands
That run i' the clock's behalf.
Act 5, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Tablet:
Posthumus awakens after listening to the argument between the ghosts of his family members and Jupiter, chief god of the classical pantheon, which he perceives at first as a mere dream. As he awakens, however, he discovers that there is a mysterious “tablet” lying on his chest. The cryptic prophecy inscribed upon the tablet foreshadows the ending of the play. He reads the text aloud and then comments upon its contents:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Whenas a lion’s whelp shall, to himself unknown,
without seeking find, and be embraced by a piece of
tender air; and when from a stately cedar shall be
lopped branches which, being dead many years, shall
after revive, be jointed to the old stock, and freshly
grow, then shall Posthumus end his miseries, Britain
be fortunate and flourish in peace and plenty.’Tis still a dream, or else such stuff as madmen
Tongue and brain not; either both or nothing,
Or senseless speaking, or a speaking such
As sense cannot untie.
Related Themes:
