The Water Imagery In The Last Man

Current studies on Mary Shelley’s famous novel The Last Man mainly focus onfour aspects: political connotation, feministic analysis, humanistic approach andecological preservation. However, there has been an overlook on the deep explorationinto its plot and frequent imageries. Therefore, in order to foster a betterunderstanding of the novel, this thesis chooses water imagery, which is mentioned inabout three hundred places, as an entry into the study of the plot and characters ofMary Shelley’s The Last Man.This thesis aims to enhance the understanding of the plot of The Last Man andMary Shelley’s connection with it through systematic study on the perception ofimagery, and water imagery at large. The perception on imagery in western academiccircle has developed from abstract to concrete and from psychological plane to artisticcreation. In order to define imagery, the thesis traces back to its origin and settles thedeveloping venation to form literary criticism and defines imagery as: thesubconscious product of an organic merge between the objects and the conscious, acompound of sense and sensibility, reflecting the aesthetic attitude and spiritualorientation of the subject.The thesis moves onto exploring the perception and functions of water imagery.Traditionally，water symbolizes the process of purification and the origin of allcreations. However，with the increasing popularity of water-related terms, such as,tears, ocean, voyage, fog, tempest, stream, etc., which have been singled out as aspecific category: water imagery. Water imagery normally represents for where wateris used for its symbolic value and where something is described in water-related terms.In The Last Man, Mary Shelley draws on the ocean as the most important imagery,and further broadens it to specific natural elements. The study of water imagery offersthe readers a keen insight into the characters’ doomed fate as well as how the author’slife is reflected through them. Moreover, the thesis has its realistic significance. Thechaos and ultimate extinction brought by the massive plague and flood demonstrates the writer’s concern over intensified human conflicts and insatiable demands towardsnature in contemporary world, and warns us against the potential punishments fromnature.