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Idioms
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
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Prelude to a Storm:
Towards the end of Chapter 6, Stoker uses a combination of foreshadowing, imagery, and simile to generate a sense of dread and foreboding:
Today is a grey day, and the sun as I write is hidden in thick clouds, high over Kettleness. Everything is grey - except the green grass, which seems like an emerald amongst it . . . . Dark figures are on the beach here and there, sometimes half shrouded in mist, and seem "men like trees walking."
Related Themes:
Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Seward's Confusion:
Towards the end of Chapter 14, Seward remains confused about Van Helsing's thought process, not understanding why Lucy passed away nor how her death is linked with a series of other events. Stoker uses a striking combination of imagery and simile to describe Seward's intellectual position:
Unlock with LitCharts A+At present I am going in my mind from point to point as a mad man, and not a sane one, follows an idea. I feel like a novice blundering through a bog in a mist, jumping from one tussock to another in the mere blind effort to move on without knowing where I am going.
Related Themes:
Chapter 16
Explanation and Analysis—Nature in the Graveyard:
At the beginning of Chapter 16, Stoker uses striking natural imagery to set the mood for the gruesome work that Dr. Seward, Van Helsing, Quincey, and Arthur must carry out in their efforts to lay Lucy to rest:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Never did tombs look so ghastly white; never did cypress, or yew, or juniper so seem the embodiment of funeral gloom; never did tree or grass wave or rustle so ominously; never did bough creak so mysteriously; and never did the far-away howling of dogs send such a woeful presage through the night.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Lucy and Sexuality:
As Arthur, Van Helsing, Quincey, and Dr. Seward enter Lucy's tomb in Chapter 16 to dispose of the vampire, they encounter a woman much changed from the person they knew, both in visage and demeanor. Stoker uses visceral imagery to showcase this change:
Unlock with LitCharts A+My own heart grew cold as ice, and I could hear the gasp of Arthur, as we recognized the features of Lucy Westenra, but yet how changed. The sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness.
Related Themes:
