Imagery and Diction in Hamlet
Imagery, the words and phrases used by authors to provide pictures in the mind of the reader, draws upon
the power of two imaginations- the writer’s and the reader’s. The writer as sender of the image selects the
picture and puts it into words. Readers receive the words and reconstruct the picture for themselves.
Imagery enhances the power of the description and conveys emotion as well as situation. Thus, used well,
imagery is one of the most powerful functions of language. The most prevalent image in Hamlet is one of
rottenness, disease and corruption. Such imagery is obviously reflective of the events taking place in the
kingdom. An early example of imagery is presented in Act I Scene one, lines 166-167 when Horatio
states, “But look, the morn in russet mantle clad/ Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastward hill”.
These words of Horatio literally translate into “dawn is coming”. The image, however, is that of human
figure (“walks”), wearing a deep orange-red-coloured cloak (“in russet mantle clad”), moving across the
dew-wet ground of the eastern hill. The image with its figurative overtones, is graceful, colourful, rich in
suggestion and appeals to the senses. It enhances the literal meaning of Horatio’s words.
This passage of imagery can be further broken down into two forms: sensory imagery and
personification.
Sensory imagery:
russet-visual colour
mantle, dew- tactile
Personification: the dawn is given human-like characteristics
Imagery can also be presented through the use of other figures of speech like metaphors or similes. In Act
I, Scene One, line 145 Macellus uses a simile when speaking of the ghost, “For it is as the air”
Explain the above comments to your classmates. In addition, disease and garden imagery (in particular
that of a rotten garden) appear often in Hamlet. Select 3 examples of images in the play and explain them
to your classmates.