Previous
Genre
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
The Second Part of the Description of the New Blazing World
Explanation and Analysis—Light and Stars:
Cavendish frequently uses celestial and sky imagery when describing the Blazing World to readers. This imagery is significant because it relates to the symbol of light throughout the story. For example, when comparing the Empress’s home world to the Blazing World in Part 2, the Duchess says:
[...] the world you are going into, is dark at nights (especially if there be no moon-shine, or if the moon be overshadowed by clouds) and not so full of blazing-stars as this world is, which make as great a light in the absence of the sun, as the sun doth when it is present; for that world hath but little blinking stars
This quote evokes readers’ sense of sight to describe how the Blazing World is full of stars rather than the “little blinking stars” one would expect to see from Earth. She describes the many stars of the Blazing World as giving off a “great light.” Symbolically, light represents utopia and divinity for Cavendish, marking the Blazing World as a superior world. Imagery focused on stars and light invokes this symbolic meaning.
In another example, Cavendish uses imagery to describe the light in the Blazing World when the Duchess describes the Blazing World to her friends:
[...] the nights there are as light as days, by reason of the numerous blazing-stars, which are very splendorous, only their light is whiter than the sun’s light; and as the sun’s light is hot, so their light is cool, not so cool as our twinkling star-light, nor is their sun-light so hot as ours, but more temperate [... the Blazing World is] always clear, and never subject to any storms, tempests, fogs or mists, but has only refreshing dews that nourish the earth; the air of it is sweet and temperate
Here, the Duchess describes the light in the Blazing World to others from her own world (in effect, describing it to the reader). She evokes the heat of the blazing stars that bring light to the Blazing World, and describes the world as having “refreshing dews that nourish the earth” with air that is “sweet and temperate.” This evokes the senses, allowing the reader to imagine the warmth of the light and the refreshing air. While Cavendish’s writing is not dominated by imagery, she strategically uses imagery to evoke light and shape the Blazing World into a utopia.
Related Themes:
