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Hyperbole
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
Part 1, Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Shepherdesses :
In his speech to a group of goatherds who share their food and wine with him and Sancho Panza, Don Quixote employs vivid imagery in his description of the golden age, which he characterizes as an idyllic period:
Those were the days when artless, lovely shepherdesses roamed from dale to dale and from hill to hill, their hair in plaits or flowing loose, clothed in no more than was necessary to conceal with modesty that which modesty has always required to be concealed; and their ornaments were not those now in fashion, luxuries of Tyrian purple and martyred and tormented silk, but verdant burdock leaves and ivy intertwined, in which perhaps they walked as fine and elegant as our court ladies do now in the bizarre creations that idle curiosity has put before their eyes.
Here, Quixote uses extensive imagery in his rapturous speech. He describes the “lovely shepherdesses” as wearing their “hair in plaits or flowing loose” and as being “clothed in no more than was necessary to conceal modesty.” While present fashion, he claims, values “luxuries of Tyrian purple and martyred and tormented silk,” the women of the golden age wore “verdant burdock leaves and ivy intertwined” and walked “as fine and elegant as our court ladies do now” but without assuming the “bizarre creations” of contemporary fashion. These rich visual details suggest that Quixote imagines the past in a highly idealized manner and holds the social customs and fashions of his own day in little regard.
Related Themes:
Part 1, Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Funeral Procession:
After Don Quixote mistakes a herd of sheep for an army and is beaten by some shepherds, he and Sancho Panza endure a cold and hungry night, as they have lost their saddle-bags. That evening, they see eerie lights in the distance, and Cervantes describes the scene with sharp imagery:
There were about twenty figures in white drapes, all mounted, with flaming torches in their hands, and behind them came a litter covered in mourning followed by another six mounted figures, in mourning too, right down to the heels of their mules – because it was clear, from their sober gait, that these were no horses. The men in white were murmuring in compassionate tones. This strange vision, at such an hour and in such a desolate place, was more than enough to strike fear into Sancho’s heart, and even into his master’s [...]
As the two companions stare through the dark of night, they see “twenty figures in white drapes, all mounted” bearing flaming torches and followed by “a litter covered in mourning” and “another six mounted figures.” Here, Cervantes includes specific visual details, noting, for example, the “sober gait” of the mules. Further, he draws from the sense of sound, describing the procession as “murmuring in compassionate tones.” Though these details suggest that this is a funeral party, Sancho is terrified by this “strange vision” and even Quixote is intimidated by what appears, at first, to be a supernatural sight.
