Imagery is a very strong literary device that can be used to expose many different important aspects of the book, play or even a novel. It also helps the reader or the audience, in case of a play, to get an image of what is going on and to give them a better understanding and more insight. In Shakespeare's remarkable play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Shakespeare uses imagery to portray death through poison and guilt.
             Shakespeare uses many devices in his play to depict many different themes of the book, but he uses imagery to describe death through poison in the play. He uses two important parts from the beginning of the play to the middle, to show imagery; this imagery uses poison to describe death. One of the examples is from act one, scene five, when the king is talking to his son, Hamlet who is also the Prince of Denmark. The King is trying to explain to Hamlet that he did not die the way the country thinks he did, but in a different way. The King says, "A serpent stung me, so the whole ear of Denmark, Is by a forged process of my death."(Act 1, Scene 5, Line 41-42) What the king is saying is that the serpent, being looked upon as a snake, is not the one who stung him, but is a person who is treacherous. He also claims that all of Denmark does not know the truth behind his death. This is significant because it uses poison to represent death. When the King says that a serpent stung him, it tells the reader that he died because of the poison, and it is also great imagery. This quote is a turning point in the play, because it causes Hamlet to go on a mission to find out if the ghost, his father's spirit, is telling the truth. Act one, scene five, has yet another example of imagery. This takes place when the Ghost appears again, in front of Hamlet, and tells Hamlet the effect of the poison, which caused him to die.
             "The leperous distilment, whose effect
             Holds such an enmity with blood of ma...