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Idioms
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
Chapter 34
Explanation and Analysis—The Wine-Dark Brawl:
At dinner in Chapter 34, James Crawley makes a fool of himself as he guzzles wine and talks about his time at Oxford. As he struggles to secure his masculinity, he betrays his affinity for blood sports—which Thackeray emphasizes through the use of blood and red imagery:
“Blood’s the word,” said James, gulping the ruby fluid down. “Nothing like blood, Sir, in hosses, dawgs, and men. Why only last term, just before I was rusticated, that is, just before I had the measles, ha, ha,—there was me and… Bob Ringwood, Lord Cinqbar’s son, having our beer at the Bell at Blenheim, when the Banbury bargeman offered to fight either of us for a bowl of punch. […] Bob had his coat off at once… he polished him off in four rounds easy. Gad, how he did drop, Sir, and what was it? Blood, Sir, all blood."
Thackeray emphasizes the blood-like, "ruby" quality of the wine as James chaotically discusses the appeal of blood itself—from dueling, from hunting, and more. His case is less than compelling, and James emerges from this passage as a caricature of a young Oxford student who puts entertainment above education ("rustication" really means "suspension," despite James's half-hearted excuse of measles).
Thackeray—who himself attended Cambridge, Oxford's ancient rival—finds evident pleasure in conveying James's intoxication and stream-of-consciousness babbling to a less-than-amused Crawley dinner party.
Related Themes:
Chapter 44
Explanation and Analysis—Home Improvement:
In Chapter 44, Becky takes charge of Sir Pitt's house after the aging knight finally dies. In a moment of situational irony, Thackeray uses imagery to convey how the house improves under Becky's control:
The black outer-coating of the bricks was removed, and they appeared with a cheerful, blushing face streaked with white: the old bronze lions of the knocker were gilt handsomely, the railings painted, and the dismallest house in Great Gaunt Street became the smartest in the whole quarter, before the green leaves in Hampshire had replaced those yellowing ones which were on the trees in Queen’s Crawley avenue when old Sir Pitt Crawley passed under them for the last time.
Despite the fact that Sir Pitt was the only legitimate aristocrat in his family, it is only after his death that his residence gains the proper grandeur of a noble's residence: this is the source of the situation's irony. Thackeray emphasizes the drama of this transformation by invoking the vivid color imagery of gilt lions, red-and-white brick, and fresh green leaves.
In elevating the house to its proper glory, Becky cannot help but play the part of the aristocrat's wife—despite the fact that she has yet to convince the new Sir Pitt, Pitt Crawley, to share his inheritance.
Related Themes:
Chapter 48
Explanation and Analysis—The Devil's Drumming:
In Chapter 48, Becky explicitly asks Lord Steyne for a large sum of money—and risks shattering their delicate, ambiguous relationship with such an overt request. Her demand takes Steyne by surprise, and Thackeray conveys his discomfort—and then anger, and then Becky's triumphant celebration—in a chain of idiom and sound imagery:
Lord Steyne made no reply except by beating the devil’s tattoo, and biting his nails. At last he clapped his hat on his head, and flung out of the room. Rebecca did not rise from her attitude of misery until the door slammed upon him.... Then she rose up with the queerest expression of victorious mischief glittering in her green eyes. She burst out laughing once or twice to herself... and sitting down to the piano, she rattled away a triumphant voluntary on the keys, which made the people pause under her window to listen to her brilliant music.
To "beat the devil's tattoo" is an idiom meaning to drum one's fingers on a hard surface. Each action Steyne takes in this passage causes noise that expresses his frustration—from the frantic drumming to the clap of his hat on his head to the slam of the door. As if mirroring his exit, Becky celebrates in auditory kind: she bursts out in laughter and plays the piano.
Despite the sudden escalation in temper that Thackeray represents through sound imagery, Becky emerges from this confrontation unscathed. If the reader wasn't sure of Becky's ability to exploit her social circle without ever facing repercussions, this passage confirms it once and for all. Although her greed only grows—and her ambition with it—she seems to be entirely immune to repercussion.
Related Themes:
