ABSTRACT
Shakespeare's use of verbal imagery, regarded with suspicion during his lifetime, has given birth to a heterogeneous and fanciful iconography, comparable for its quantity to that inspired by ancient drama, but much more varied. This chapter explores some aspects of Shakespearean iconography in its most popular appearances, i.e., nineteenth century illustrated editions, considered in relation to textual imagery. It presents some illustrated editions, examining the symbolic use of specific objects inspired by Shakespeare's single words or sentences within a 'narrative' context, based diachronically to illustrate dramatic points and nodal actions of the plot. The chapter describes the analysis on the depiction of animals and, in particular, of serpents. The serpent is an exemplary and almost mythical 'object', whose employment in nineteenth century illustrations allows the artists to freely scramble the levels, as can be seen in the off-stage murdering of King Hamlet by Thurston.
