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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
Act 2, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Mammon's Vision :
Jonson employs lush imagery in a scene in which Sir Epicure Mammon, who has commissioned Subtle to create a Philosopher’s Stone, speaks rapturously of what he intends to do once he has the stone, which was reputed to confer immortality and turn cheap metals into gold:
Mam. [They] shall fan me with ten estrich tails
A-piece, made in a plume to gather wind.
We will be brave, Puffe, now we have the med'cine.
My meat shall all come in, in Indian shells,
Dishes of agat set in gold, and studded
With emeralds, sapphires, hyacinths, and rubies.
The tongues of carps, dormice, and camels' heels,
Boil'd in the spirit of sol, and dissolv'd pearl [...]
And I will eat these broths with spoons of amber,
Headed with diamond and carbuncle.
Mammon is one of several gullible individuals who have fallen for a fraudulent scheme by Face, Subtle, and Doll, who offer him alchemical services in exchange for money. In this speech, he fantasizes about his future wealth with vivid imagery. He imagines that he will have servants to fan him with “ten estrich tails / A-piece” and that he will eat his food “in Indian shells” and “Dishes of agat set in gold, and studded / with emeralds, sapphires, hyacinths, and rubies.” Here, his imagery is particularly decadent, as he pictures the extravagances he will afford when he possesses infinite wealth and can afford treasures from across the globe.
Further, he plans to eat the "tongues of carps, dormice, and camel’s heels," alongside “dissolv’d pearl,” which he will consume with “spoons of amber, / Headed with diamond and carbuncle.” The images he invokes here are not only extravagant but notably wasteful, as a very large number of carps, mice, and camels would have to be slaughtered for his meals. While Mammon is just as gullible as the other “gulls” targeted by the co-conspirators, he is distinguished by his exaggerated greed.
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