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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
Imagery
Explanation and Analysis—The Laboratory & Boudoir:
Hawthorne uses visual imagery to construct a parallel between Aylmer's laboratory and a higher spiritual realm. As Aylmer strives to defy natural laws, his laboratory seems less and less earthly. The following passage describes an optical illusion that Aylmer constructs to impress his wife:
Airy figures, absolutely bodiless ideas, and forms of unsubstantial beauty came and danced before her, imprinting their momentary footsteps on beams of light. Though she had some indistinct idea of the method of these optical phenomena, still the illusion was almost perfect enough to warrant the belief that her husband possessed sway over the spiritual world.
Visual imagery of "airy figures" and "beams of light" create a sense of awe in both Georgiana and the reader. Despite Hawthorne's portrayal of Aylmer as a crackpot scientist, he gives Aylmer a few moments of glory in his laboratory. Here, Aylmer almost seems Godlike. He knows that human imperfection is the most notably stubborn natural law. However, as Aylmer entertains his wife, he convinces her by the beauty of his illusions that he is capable of subverting it. Georgiana believes his claims and marvels at his scientific showboating. Later in the story, she compares the elixir to "water from a heavenly fountain."
By contrast, Hawthorne uses olfactory imagery to evoke the delicate feminine qualities of the boudoir:
When Georgiana recovered consciousness she found herself breathing an atmosphere of penetrating fragrance, the gentle potency of which had recalled her from her deathlike faintness. The scene around her looked like enchantment. Aylmer had converted those smoky, dingy, sombre rooms, where he had spent his brightest years in recondite pursuits, into a series of beautiful apartments not unfit to be the secluded abode of a lovely woman.
In a sense, the boudoir represents the earthly realm that "recalls her from her deathlike faintness." The fragrance of her beautiful rooms quite literally enlivens her. Just as Aylmer transformed his dingy laboratory into a seemingly higher realm, he likewise renovated his house to accomodate his wife. These material renovations recall his obsession with beauty and perfection. But Hawthorne's diction, especially his use of the word "scene," reminds readers that most of Aylmer's efforts turn out to be illusions, whether he is hanging gorgeous curtains over ugly walls or attempting to remove the single mark of imperfection from his wife's lovely cheek.
Related Themes:
