metaphor and image schemas applied to a tragedy discourse in the period of Renaissance in order to clarify abstract ideas, themes , concepts that belong to the period of Renaissance in the history of English Literature. Through the use of imagery Shakespeare tried to create each of his plays as a dramatic whole. In the Renaissance period in England different patterns of words known as figures or figurative language were presented in a text to confer beauty and heighten the expressive powers. The creative interplay of language and thought is reflected in the use of figurative language in the text. These figures not only provided emphasis and elegant variety but also well articulated the inner lives of characters. The use of conceptual metaphor motivates our understanding of the language in general. Metaphor is not a property of (and problem for language) but it is a property of our conceptual system (Lakoff and Jhonson 1980).
Now, an image is a comparison between two things– one literal and one figurative. Its expression is manifested in the form of a simile and metaphor. Through the use of conceptual metaphors and image schemas Shakespeare exploits the intricacies of meaning in his plays. In view of the cognitive theory, metaphor and image schemas are not just a figurative language of thought but rooted in our everyday world of experience. Lakoff and Jhonson …show more content…
As regards the use of metaphor in Shakespearean tragedies there are different views perceived. Metaphor is viewed as the controlling structure which controls the entire organization of the play (Berry 1978). There are two features in Shakespearean drama: its use of performance as a metaphor of reality, and the subjective nature of that reality (Van den Berg 1985). Again Shakespeare’s metaphors are based not on the magical properties of words, but on the likeness of speech to music (Donawerth 1984). Now according to the Cognitive Theory of Metaphor, it is a means by which abstract and intangible areas of experiences are conceptualized in terms of the concrete objects and familiar experiences. For example in the conceptual metaphor ARGUMENT IS WAR the domain of intellectual argument can be understood in terms of war. Elements from the domain of war like attack, defence, retreat etc. are mapped into the abstract domain of intellectual argument. The cognitive process that relates literal meaning to the extended meaning is known as mapping. There are two conceptual domains linked in a metaphorical mapping known as source domain and the target domain. In metaphor one conceptual entity is mapped onto the structure of another domain. In metonymy one conceptual entity is mapped onto another within the same domain. The domains are conventionalized in the language, and