An analysis of the ways in which Shakespeare's imagery functions to reveal literary and personal motives.

2014 Reprint of 1958 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Caroline Spurgeon is known as the first female university professor in London, the second in England. In 1935, Spurgeon wrote this pioneer study on the use of images in William Shakespeare's opus. In it she analyses the different types of images and motifs that he uses in his plays. She also shows that there is a "cluster," or there are several "clusters," of images in each of the major plays, for instance, illness and injury images in "Hamlet," and light and darkness images in "Romeo and Juliet." Remains a classic study to this day.

This early work by Caroline F. Spurgeon was originally published in 1935 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'Shakespeare's Imagery and What it Tells Us' is an in-depth work on the example, function, and use of imagery in the work of the great playwright. Caroline Spurgeon was born on 24 October 1869, in India. She was educated at Cheltenham Ladies College, England and at King's College, London and also University College London. In 1901 she became a member of the staff of Bedford College, London, and wrote two thesis on Chaucer. The first in 1911 which she wrote in Paris, 'Chaucer devant la critique', and the second, written in London in 1929, '500 years of Chaucer criticism and allusion.' In 1935, Spurgeon wrote the pioneer study on the use of images in William Shakespeare's Work, called 'Shakespeare's Imagery, and what it tells us.' In it she analyses the different types of images and motifs he uses in his plays. Spurgeon was also responsible for launching the well regarded English literature curriculum at the University of London.

Caroline Spurgeon's pioneer study of the imagery of Shakespeare's plays shows how much light can be thrown on Shakespeare's own mind and thought and on the themes and characters of the plays by a detailed examination of his imagery. At the same time she contrasts Shakespeare with other dramatists of his time, including Marlowe, Bacon, Ben Jonson and Dekker.