| Act II, Scene i
"Ophelia: My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle; Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; And with a look so piteous in purport As if he had been loosed out of hell To speak of horrors,--he comes before me." Act I, Scene ii "Hamlet: O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew."
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In Hamlet, imagery performs three important functions. Firstly, it helps to individualize the major characters of the drama. Secondly, it announces and elaborates major themes. And thirdly, the images establish the distinctive atmosphere of the tragedy and keep the underlying mood of a scene, or of a succession of scenes, before the audience's mind. In the first quote Ophelia's description of Hamlet helps convey the theme of insanity by giving him a crazed appearance. In the second, gross skin melting quote, the question of living or dying for Hamlet is furthered by an extreme image of death. |
