Twelfth Night Figurative Language

In the passage, many techniques are used to create and shape the mood and atmosphere. One of the most impacting methods of creating the mood and atmosphere is the usage of imagery. The constant usage of metaphors, similes, and other figurative language helps the reader get an image of the narrator's perspective in the passage. Firstly, in the beginning of the passage, when the narrator describes North Richmond Street, he uses imagery to give the reader an idea of how the atmosphere was and how the mood of the passage was to begin with. The narrator describes the people living on the street as usually having “brown imperturbable faces”. This demonstration of imagery gives the reader an idea of how the people on that street, which seems to have

an important role in the passage, were like and how they acted. This builds up the mood and atmosphere of the play as it gives the reader a sense of the atmosphere which seems to be calm, quiet, and not very exciting. The usage of imagery in this case, is very important as it is what describes the setting, and sets the mood for the rest of the passage. Another example of a imagery that is later used in the passage is when the narrator was describing his feeling towards Mangan’s sister. He says “[his] body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires”. By relating his body to harp, and relating her words and gestures as the fingers running upon the wires, the author is using a metaphorical type of figurative language. This usage of figurative language creates the whole “imagery” effect in order to give the reader an idea or image and a sense of the mood that is created by how deeply the thought of her affected the narrator’s feelings and emotions.

Finally, another example in the passage that really stands out due to the use of imagery is when the narrator describes the setting of where he seemed to be during the first days of winter. According to him, “The space of sky above [him] was the colour of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns”. The “ever-changing violet” colour that the narrator describes the sky as having and the lamps lifting “their feeble lanterns” indicates that that part of the passage was during the evening, which the reader wouldn't have known otherwise. Imagery in this case, is used to describe the setting and how it looked and felt which is vital in order to create and give the reader a sense of the mood and atmosphere in the passage. Ultimately if it weren’t for the usage of imagery in the passage, the mood and atmosphere the readers would have hardly been able to notice or detect the mood and atmosphere of the passage as imagery had such an important role in conveying the intended mood and atmosphere that the author wanted the readers to

experience.