Q: How does Shakespeare uses Imagery to show the development of theme and characters in King Lear and Hamlet? Ans: Shakespeare who was popular for his tragedies created two masterpieces which were quite different in plots but carried almost the same themes. They were two popular plays which developed in their plots with the help of imageries. Both the plays shared the theme of tragedy, and the important imageries which helped bring these plays to its climax were Animal Imagery, Imagery of Disease, Imagery of Sin Evil and Corruption, Imagery of revenge.
Imagery of Madness. Animal Imagery is shown both in Hamlet and King Lear, the use of animals to show the situation and the elements in human being are prominent in both the plays. In Hamlet the animal imagery is prominent in these lines: “Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e’en at him. ” -Hamlet (Act 4, Scene 3, Lines 22-24) The Animal Imagery of warms was used by Hamlet when Claudius questions him about the whereabouts of Polonius’ body. Hamlet talks about worms eating Polonius’ body, as worms being decomposers.
We can assume that Polonius’ body is probably decaying. This was a direct reflection of the state of Denmark at that point. “For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion…”- Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 197-198) In these lines Hamlet was talking to Polonius. Hamlet in these lines tells Polonius not to let his daughter walk in the sunlight. Hamlets used the imagery of a dead dog being decomposed which Polonius fails to understand as he is thought to be insane by everyone in the country.
Hamlet in reality was trying to warn Polonius of the bad things happening in the country it was actually done so to keep Ophelia safe, as Ophelia was Hamlets girlfriend, and he still cared about her and he wanted her to be safe. In King Lear the Animal Imagery is used by King Lear and Albony the husband of Goneril. King Lear uses the Imagery of animals such as King Lear compares Goneril to a 'detested kite' (1. 4), which is not only a child's toy but also a bird of prey, Whereas Albony compares his vicious wife Goneril to a dog to show the cruelty in her behavior towards her father.
Albany's comparison of humanity to sharks (4. 2) also shows that humans are no better than animals. By using these imageries Shakespeare not only exposed human behavior but also gave the reader a better picture of the characters in the play. Another Imagery noticed in both King Lear and Hamlet is that of disease. The Image of Disease is seen in King Lear where he calls his elder two daughters evil motives “venereal disease,” “a boil / a plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle”. Lear says to his evil daughters: We'll no more meet, no more see one another:But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter;Or rather a disease that's in my flesh,Which I must needs call mine: thou art a boil,A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle,In my corrupted blood. (2. 4. 29)”. In the first scene of the play Kent sees himself as Lear’s ‘physician’ (I. i. 164), and his behavior in seeking to banish Cordelia, the daughter who loves him most, as a ‘foul disease’. ). This disease imagery reflects the play’s interest in natural and unnatural states, and can be connected too with the monstrous imagery that recurs throughout the play.
On the other hand in Hamlet Francisco says in the starting lines of the play ''Tis bitter cold, / and I am sick at heart' (1. 1. 9) These lines show the bodily sickness. The imagery of sickness also indicates at the diseased minds of the people of Denmark. In the first speech Hamlet says 'things rank and gross in nature / Possess it' (1. 2. 136-137). Hamlet feels that the whole world is diseased, that it is 'an unwedded garden / that grows to seed. ' This Image of disease throws a light on the corruption of Denmark too. Another similar Imagery found in both King Lear and Hamlet is that of Sin, Evil and Corruption.
The corruption is shown in the lines: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” This line in the first act of the play indicates one of the main themes in this play, which is of corruption. This line is said by Hamlet when he returns home to find his father is dead, and his mother re-married to her brother-in-law and his father appears in the form of a ghost to tell him that he has been murdered by his own brother. All these incidents taking place at once show that everything is not as it appears. There is a linkage between the awful state of the kingdom and the activities that take place throughout the play.
The King was believed to be appointed by God, The Divine Right of Kings, and by Claudius killing Hamlet Senior has caused disturbance and corrupted not only in the rights of Hamlet but has also made God furious. This may be the cause of all the terrible things taking place throughout the play. It might be a punishment to Claudius, and since he is the King, his punishment mirrors on the state of the kingdom of Denmark. “Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e’en at him. ” This line is said by Hamlet when Claudius asks him about the whereabouts of Polonius’ body.
He talks about worms eating Polonius’ body, worms being decomposers. We can see in this line that Polonius’ body is decaying right now. This line is a direct reflection of the state of Denmark at this time due to the corruption caused by the evils of the High figures of the state. In the same way in King Lear the imagery of Corruption is shown in these lines: “We'll no more meet, no more see one another: But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter; Or rather a disease that's in my flesh, Which I must needs call mine: thou art a boil, A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle, In my corrupted blood. ”
In those days the human body was frequently used shown as a symbol for a kingdom. In Shakespeare used the imagery of body in Henry IV Part 2, for instance: the kingdom of Henry IV which is literally ill is imagined as a human body wracked with disease, which turns out to be an appropriate symbol for a common wealth that had been plagued by civil revolt and disorder. The similar image is shown in King Lear where Lear imagines that his body is unhealthy; we cannot ignore the fact that his empire is also not doing so well. As it has been divided into pieces by Lear, and is now being ruled by Goneril and Regan and their husbands.
The empire has become a corrupt place now. The civil war with France is on the possibility. In King Lear's awareness, the corruption is his kingdom is due to Goneril and Regan so it’s not surprising that he has referred to Goneril as a 'plague-sore. ' Another important Imagery in both the plays King Lear and Hamlet is that of Revenge. In both the plays there is some hatred that is present towards someone which causes the thought of taking Revenge from that enemy. Though a better person is that who forgives the one in fury and filled with hatred cannot discriminate between right and wrong. His revenge is thought to ultimate justice by him.
In Hamlet the revenge is shown with the appearance of the Ghost as Hamlets father who utter this line: 'So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear' In these lines the Ghost of Hamlets father tells him that he had been poisoned by his brother Claudius at the time he slept in his orchard. The ghost further says 'Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” this is said to provoke Hamlet to take revenge if he is not already feeling the longing to do so. In King Lear the revenge Imagery is shown in Edmund who is the illegimate son of Gloucester. Gloucester tells everybody about Edmund being his illegal son with a woman who he loved.
Though he loved Edmund more than Edgar but Edmund has borne hatred against his father and brother Edgar who is of no harm to him. He destroys his life by creating misunderstandings between him and his father through a letter just to take revenge from him of being the legal child of Gloucester who has the respect in the society that Edmund has lost. This is all due to his father’s illegal act that one brother is ready to take the life of the other on no material facts. “Wherefore should I Stand in the plague of custom, and permit The curiosity of nations to deprive me, For that I am some twelve or fourteen moon-shines
Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base? When my dimensions are as well compact, My mind as generous, and my shape as true, As honest madam's issue? Why brand they us With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base? ” Through these lines Shakespeare has shown Edmunds tragedy and his reason for the revenge from his brother Edgar who has never harmed him in any way. Another important Imagery is that of Madness which is shown in both the plays of Shakespeare. The images of Madness might be sited as ridiculous by the audience but the madness in both the plays has brought insight to the sufferers.
Madness might have no outward meaning but it has core meaning to it. In the play Hamlet, Hamlet is shown to be suffering from madness but the remarks made by him in the state of madness are influential. Though Hamlet is not mad in reality but is pretending to be so to bring about an end to corruption. Hamlet believes that the only way to eradicate corruption is by acting insane, so people say things that they would not normally say. His lines that might sound vague outwardly but have a lot of in-depth meaning are as listed below: “Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e’en at him. “How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself, As I perchance hereafter shall think meet. To put an antic disposition on. ” “For if the suns breed maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion…” In King Lear Madness is shown in the prominent characters of the play, firstly by Edgar and later on in Lear. Edgar is pretending to be mad in order to save himself from his father and brother Edmund. Madness is a ceiling or a protection in his case but in Lear’s case he has grown mad due to the cruel behavior of his daughters towards him. Lear who has been thrown out of the daughters who pretended to love him was a great shock for his old mind.
At the end the love that he had lost of his daughter Cordelia makes Lear so insane that he dies at that very spot where his dead daughter lye. The important meaningful utterances made by both the characters in madness are listed below: LEAR “Nature’s above art in that respect. There’s your press- money. That fellow handles his bow like a crow keeper. Draw me a clothier’s yard. Look, look, a mouse! Peace, peace, this piece of toasted cheese will do ’t. There’s my gauntlet. I’ll prove it on a giant. Bring up the brown bills. O, well flown, bird. I' th' clout, i' th' clout. Hewgh! Give the word. ” LEAR “Ha!
Goneril with a white beard? Ha, Regan? They flattered me like a dog and told me I had white hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there. To say “Ay” and “No” to everything that I said “Ay” and “No” to was no good divinity. When the rain came to wet me once, and the wind to make me chatter, when the thunder would not peace at my bidding—there I found 'em, there I smelt 'em out. Go to, they are not men o' their words. They told me I was everything. 'Tis a lie, I am not ague-proof. ” EDGAR “The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the voice of a nightingale. Hopdance cries in Tom’s belly for two white herring.
Croak not, balck angel; I have no food for thee. ” Let us deal justly. | EDGAR “Sleepest or wakest thou, jolly shepherd? | | Thy sheep be in the corn;| | And for one blast of thy minikin 3 mouth,| | Thy sheep shall take no harm. ”| Purr! the cat is grey All these lines have in-depth meaning to it, though they might seem to be said by mad people but a lot of irony is intermixed by Shakespeare through these lines said by his characters. Shakespeare has shown that madness has given the characters spiritual sight and they can judge people and their follies in a better way than they did before.
Author: Angel Bell