Imagery Essay, Research Paper

Imagery is the mental image the your mind comes up with when certain words are

said. In scene V (lines 94-111) of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, a picture is painted

in the mind by the words said. Imagery vocabulary, explanations, and affects of the

reader are the three most important aspects of imagery.

Shakespeare does a wonderful job of using imagery vocabulary to paint a picture

in the minds of the audience. Even now in the 21st century we can read Romeo and Juliet

and get the same sort of picture as the people of Shakespearean times got, even though

the vocabulary is a little different. Words such as shrine, sin, saint, prayer,

faith, and profane all paint the picture of a holy scene in my mind. When reading of

(or listening to) Romeo and Juliet meet you feel as if some holy, religious realm is taking

place. Even though these two have just met you sense some sort of bond. This immediate

bond is cushioned by the fact that they are in holy love or by the fact that they we re

meant to be. It is important to understand imagery vocabulary and understand the sort of

picture you are creating for the audience.

The imagery of scene V depicts that Romeo and Juliet s love was meant to be. It

gives the idea that God, or some other spiritual being, brought the two together at the

masquerade to find each other, and fall in love forever. Even though they have just met,

and their new love just began, they suddenly can t live without one another. The love that

is painted in my mind is the kind that is only found in storybooks or TV sitcoms. the kind

of love that everyone wants to possess. Love at first sight, but justified of the terms that

some religiousness brought them together. This imagery of love is the kind of love that

will make young heartbroken girls want to love again, and encourage elderly couples to

remember the good old days of their youth. This depiction of love makes the audience

forget, for a moment, about the Capulet/ Montague feud. It suggests eternal bonding.

Because imagery is all about what someone thinks, everyone will see things a

little differently (as shown in our Queen Mab drawings).My view on Romeo and Juliet s

love is a love meant to be. I see them as two lovesick individuals who finally find another

who will fulfill all of their needs. Both vulnerable, neither one prepared, a totally

suprising, picture-perfect combo. When seeing Romeo and Juliet meet, and

automatically love one another, it gives me this tingling feeling inside. This loving

feeling, that I have only felt a couple times before. The scene of their meeting and falling

in love is the most important scene throughout the play, in my opinion. Whenever I am

feeling lonely or unloved, I just think of Romeo and Juliet, and I know that someday my

prince will come to love me too.

The way an author paints a picture in your mind, or uses imagery, is the single

most important aspect of good literature, in my mind. How I interpret the story, or how it

seems to me, will determine my rating of the story. if the story doesn t paint a vivid

picture in my mind, and let me live the story, then I can t read it for more than five

minutes. Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet is a perfect example of successful imagery.