Anne through Denis’ Eyes
The author uses imagery to describe Anne as seen through Denis’ eyes. One such example runs as follows, “He shut his eyes and saw a vision of her in a red velvet cloak, swaying into the little restaurant where they sometimes dined together in London.” The very diction of this quote has a romantic touch which reveals Denis’ feelings through sensual visual imagery.
Crome House and its Owners
The author uses an abundance of imagery when describing the large country house at Crome. For instance, he indicates in one passage that, “there was the long gallery, with its rows of respectable and (though of course, one couldn’t publicly admit it) rather boring Italian primitives, its Chinese sculptures, its unobtrusive, dateless furniture.” Huxley’s choice of imagery here is deliberately made to present the opulent aspect of the house and its owners on the one hand, and the shallowness and tediousness of their lives from the other.
Crome as the Archeological Site of Pompeii
When Denis arrives at the house, he finds out that nobody was there yet, and so he begins exploring the premises. The following passage describes his leisurely task, “it was amusing to wander through the house as though one were exploring a dead, deserted Pompeii.” The imagery used here emphasizes the vastness of the house and the solitude of the poet in it during the absence of his hosts and fellow guests.
Hercules the Dwarf
The story of Hercules is introduced in the plot by means of Henry’s narration of his own book. The imagery used in the description of this character emphasizes his bodily abnormality, and runs in this style, “His head, which was very handsome and nobly shaped, was too big for his body, but otherwise he was exquisitely proportioned, and, for his size, of great strength and agility.”
The Beauty of Nature
“The part of the garden that sloped down from the foot of the terrace to the pool had a beauty which did not depend on color so much as on forms. It was as beautiful by moonlight as in the sun. The silver of water, the dark shapes of yew and ilex trees remained, at all hours, and seasons, the dominant feature of the scene.”
This passage follows the comment made by Anne about Denis’ trousers. The visual imagery used abundantly here point to the author’s own existential ideas; notably, the idea that the universe is indifferent to humanity. Whatever we do, whatever happens to us, we would hold no particular significant position.
