William Empson TYPES of Ambiguitym1 Ait amie of the thied type, considera a erbl mater, ‘occurs when to ideas, whieh are connected only by being both relevant in the eontext, can be given in one word simul taneously. This is often done by reference to derivation; thus Dalilah is "That specious monster, ny secomplied snare, ‘The notes say: Speciows, “beautiful and deceitful"; monster, “something unnatural and something striking shown as. sign of lisater's accomplithed, ‘skilled inthe arts of blandishment and successfil in undoing her husbane.” ‘The point here is the sharp ness of distinction between the two meanings, of which the reader is forced tobe aware; they are two pieces of information, {90 pacts of the narrative; if ingenuity bad not used an accident, they would have required two swords, "The meanings of a pun of the third type may, of course, be “connected” in this sense, that their being put into one word produces an additional effect; thus here they are used to conee i= trate feeling upon the single line in the speech, focussed in this ‘way to holdall Samson's hatred, when he expresses his grievances against her, Indeed, i the pun ie producing no additional effect ithas no funetion and is of no interest; and you may say that, in 50 far as an ambiguity is justified, it a moved upwards or down ‘wards on my scale out of the third type. If this were true, the type would gain in theoretical importance but contain no ex amples of interest to the reader of poetry. But I think itis not true, because the matters complicated by questions of conscious ness, ofthe direction of the readers attention, of the interaction between separated parts of his mind, and ofthe means By which 8 pun can be justified to him. "To begin with, I should eal it an smbiguity ofthis type when one js mainly conscious of the pun, ‘ot ofits consequences. ‘There may be an additional meaning, fiven because two meanings have heen fted into one word, Which takes effect only when the reader is attending, net to it, but tothe fact that they have been fitted into one word, so that SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY 103 ‘one could call ta deduction from the fact that they have been fitted into one word, Ye, who appointed stand, Do a you Haven charg, and rity touch ‘Win we propound, and fou ht al ay eae (Paratie Lavi 565) I's a biter and controlled mood of irony in which Sstan gives this address to his gunners; 80 much above mere ingenuity that the pans scem alonot like « generalisation, But here, 29 for Breil pane ui pera, 6b pot into the sate of ind intended you muse concentrate your attention on the ingenuity; on the Dray the words are belig interpreted both by the gunner them selves and by the angel rho have not yet heard of aillery; on the fact that they are pons, want to insist thatthe question not hereof ‘consciousnes” of a device as a whole, But of con- oie of partir part of iy for ene rtet cot acaly fol doubtful about antithess involving the idea of “unconscious? Berio ete cit ee tteee eer we eee Fietion ora product of definition, In literary mater it covers a arety of antitheacs, a8 between tate and tnayaa, at eocing for not seing the consequences ofa proposition; here T mean by eee eee ato eee to which iti ost natal to direct your attention. In this vense, flea ox wide datiacion belreen the bey tiga conoeraed ily oli the angi a the fon of cosines ee eee tee tae freee may be ecrifed; make it more obvious tothe reader, more Perens oreri steep atl ae eect ere pression of sensibility. Thus ite mort definite example are likely steel eee eee ee seventeenthcentury mystics who stress the conscious will, the ightesnth-century stylists who stress rationality, clarity, and Satire, and the harmless nineteenth-century punstes who stress asec eels ‘A pun inay be justified tothe reader, eo long a its two parts have not attong associations of their own and do not suggest dierent modes of judgment, by saying two things, both of which Iesroesteie eel wrested ee ety pill eects ele ‘wave which, though diferent, are seen at once t0 come t0 thex SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY i a sort of formal satisfaction in such a connection between two ideas even when they are merely both relevant and need not have bbeen particularly connected. For one is accustomed to such ‘devices being used to connect things in an illuminating way, and thereis at least the pleasure of expectation in secing the all even syhien it is empty. “Much of the cult of ‘syle’ isa sort of prac- tising in this way. But, indeed, one ean say more boldly that Proust's belief, 28 a matter of novel-writing, is very convincing; that the pleasure in style is continually to be explained by just ‘uch a releasing and knotted duality, where those who have been wedded in the argument are bedded together in the phrase; that fone must assume that m2 is more valuable than for any but the ‘most evasively mystical theory of value, ‘Those who adopt this View are taking refuge in the mysterious idea of an organi, of| all chings working together for good; we shell expect, from this point of view, to find more important cases of ambiguity when several ambiguities are put together, when they belong to my next chapter, and representa etate of mind, Wv At intiuiy of she fourth type occurs wen two oF more meanings of statement do ot agree among themecves but combine to make cleat a more complicated sate of mind in the author. Evidently thisisa vague enough definition which would ‘cover much ofthe third type, and almost everything in the types which fllow; T shall only consider Here its diference from the third ype. One is conscious ofthe mont important aspect of a thing, not ‘the most complicated; the subsidiary complexities, once they have been understood, merely leave an impression in the sind that they were to such-and-such an effect and they are within reach if you wish to examine them. put into the third type cases where one was intended to be mainly conscious ofa yetbal subtlety; in the fourth type the subtlety may be as great, the ct, the minture of mades of judgment as puzzling, but they are notin the main foeus of consciousneas because the stress ofthe situation absorbs them, and they are fle o be natura under the cicumstances, OF course, ‘diferent readers apply their consciousness in different ways, and alin which taken alone ‘would be ofthe thied type may become ofthe fourth type in its setting; but the distinction, I think, is usualy clear. never aw tat you did painting ned, ‘And therefore to yous ft o pain et, ound (or thought found) you dd exec, hs trea tener of a aa ‘And therefore ave I leptin your teport, ‘hae you sours beng outa well ig show, How farmodern qu doth come too shor, Speaking of wort, wn won in you doth grow, i slenee Yor my in you di impute, Which shall be moat my glory being dim, For | impair not beauty being mut ‘When ers wold vt Heys rng tom, ‘Than both your Poew ean in prise devise (Somer, bt, Shakespeare isthe writer upon whom ingenuity has most often been misapplied; and if his eyntx appears ambiguous, it may he164 SEVEN TYPES oF amorcurry ye wing adr aie, tnd cece NN at ry ome yrtes era et chores ed fees sgh be eae, wheres rac ci tenarerren oan med BE crcty rnin ae mci Beth oud nostra ny the ines vey moth anh nebo a that I remember thems probably ie was esesny be Woe Wort ose i he nto sues be Eee A crete ty catueny ec Potion elena amare Tote sn, tot cnc se ine whee esc Bot pens Gls ectaris carter ut hace be ued to cnc po of hllng metlctenie i thane pe tn cupoty of he Sle sft inore ful oncfmuddle Tn proedia ny at coe v ambiguity ofthe Sith ype oonura when the author AX overng is enn th at of ring mt Kolding ali hia mind atone, so that, for insance there ie «sil which teptient nothing exact, bu ls Hlfway between to ig hen he author movitg fom one the other Shakespeare clyde ur Now dpm “Like Rate that avy downs tet proper Bane [ry on and mene drake we di Bien for Mesure, 3.38) [Evidently the fics iden was that lust itself yas the poison; but the word proper, introduced as meaning ‘suitable for rats’ bu also having an irelevant suggestion of ‘vight and natural,’ and move exact memory of those (novadaye phosphorus) poisons which are designed to prevent rats from dying in the wainsco, produced the grander and less usual image, in which the eating Of the poison corresponds to the Fall of Man, and it is drinking ‘water, healthful and natural human function, which tis intoler- ‘ble toavoid, and which brings death. By reflection, then, proper ‘bone becomes ambiguous, since it now water as well as poton, "Ford is fond of the same device, posibly from imitation: Grovaysi. Now, now, work serous thoughts on baneful plots; ‘Beall man, mysovis et aot the curse OF old presetipdan end from me che gall (Of courage, which envlls a glorious death: TF Tmuse tater like «well-grown oak, Some undershrubs shall n my weighty fll ecrushed to oplits; wih me they all shal perish, (Tis Pity, vi end.) Gallis first used as ‘sprit to resent insults’ the bitterness which isa proper part of the complete man. (IWe have gals: Othello 1. i 93) By the next line galls have suggested oak-galls (the 1 Thi ot est ambiguus in the see tat te eda purl y tut eben etn re wuld Usha ceglen ta Tera ste of eat inthe suthor.T could clam thi nfo chee por epee went, sd! ne {be books showing ch los oder,vw Ai ambieuity of the sisth type occurs when a statement says nothing, by tautology, by eontradiction, or by irelevane Statements; so that the reader is forced to invent statement of ‘is own and they are liable to conflict with one another. We have already considered examples of ontradiction which yield a deet ‘meaning, and these might be regarded asin thiselass; thus Mose, according to the Authorised Version, told the Lord that “Tho hast not delivered thy people at al’ but ‘Delivering thou hast not delivered” isthe more direct translation inthe margin, “Though you atid you would," or ‘No doubt from your pint of view you Aare delivering us all the time, but it does not seem much to ye? or ‘I do not presume to sty you are nt delivering your peopl, bbut I find myself puzzled and unable to say that you are? Tk Hebrew this, presumably, is polite idiom, and eannotfeisy be Pit into the sith type because its meaning is not im any docbt, ‘the device is ina sense real and active, but it s not conceived A contradiction, Contradictions ofthe same kind, however, when they are used 4s jokes, fll more definitely into this type, bocaise the reader is meant to be conscious of them a8 such, ‘The paragraph which Aescrbes the appearance of Zuleika Dobson isa pretty example, 2aleika was not stetly heasiful ‘Do not suppose that she was nything 0 commonplace; donot suppose that you cn eal imagine what che wns ike eae as not, probably, the rather outof-the-way type thae You ane ically admire in this way (or rather, inthe ambit ot who thi i parody) jealousy is pacted, imagination inset ee sat nothing ha een sid (whats this ett ype of benny. anor hich can be used aginst the author afterward, Hr yer were a wife lag, andthe lashes lange than they need has hos Not knowing how large the trifle may be, the reader has no means of ing certin whether he would be charmed or appalled. "but ‘me, from an academic point of view, this face is all wrong; To 6 SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY yyy fet mind me, boys; don't let me spol your fun.’ Ter brow NaS nat dicreditable; her hait, we are positively tld, was *T must say I find something very excessive about all th ou, of course, would have been impressed.’ ‘The mouth was a mere replica of Cupid's bow. ‘Heis becoming petulant; after nt strictly Beautiflitis no kinds ets to construct her out of familiar models. the fleshy ony lreatre ba the same face as every one ele, only ivce vo much ‘fit, Tho eulogy now rises out of apparent understatement ity “yarm but ambiguous praise: | -piioappe-tte, no val of peaches, ad ot beea robbed, nor any “Tytlanroscgaden faethe lo of Ae Dobom's ches ft ‘eck vas intation-narble. Her hands and fet were af vy sy ‘roportons, She ind no waist to spe of ‘The negatives inthe fist sentence throw a prim pattern over jt lush fullness, froe one to think “no, the tree had not? and ve it) a8 « doubt in the background, exactly the opposite meaning, ts by en Traian or vulgar-English double negative. "In the Second, of course, her neck eould only imitate marble; but was it imitating imitation-marble} the doubt reminds us ofthe wppalling Possibilities im imitating many perfectly genuine marbles, and Berhaps ofthe fnitation-marbleenitonment of her carl styles, And then, since mean may be medium, small or without quality; ce wast i at once flesh and the absence of flesh; we ate let ‘in doube whether the las two sentenors mean that her beauty at tmigue and did not depend on the conventional deta, os that ‘hese parts of her body were in fact, not good enough tobe worth ‘mentioning, ot that they were intensely and fashionably snl ‘This contradiction as to the apparent subject ofthe statement seems very complete; it is not obvious what we are meant to believe at the end of t. Butt cannot be sid to representa con, Aliet in the author's mind; the contradiction removes the reades fiom the apparent subject to the real one, andthe chief" meaning” ‘of the paragraph, apart from the eiticism in ts parody, is"pleme helieve in my story; we have got to take it sulicientlysertovly tokeepit going.” Lhope Inced not apologise, after thiscranple for including Mr. Beerbohm among the poets. shall consider what may reasonably be called two ambiguitiesvir example of the seveoth typeof ambiguity, oa ay TA sttse as ye of soc tithe esti fan be conceived, oct wen the to meanings of the wor tio vauce of the ambiguity, are the two crponts ani Abie bythe contexts tht te wt eect to show fue tena vision nthe wits mind. You might hin that uch 8 case could never occur and iit oseured, cold at be pty butasamttrof fits inane sens or apother, ey toque and ade of many degices "One might aay cgi ®t lope aspect of thi sre, that he dea of “opps! i com arativelylte busin invention, admit of gent variety Interpretation (having een inteduced wherever thre wast inellecual dificult), and corsaponds to nothing in te rll or hati nary forall es of that wor ii poetry ie words in pimiive languages and lk, say. the Tatin aly, igh deg the Eaglh lower nen site a pai of epposites without any overt ambiguity that in fuch pale you are only sting, fr fnstance, a se, whic Iight be extended between any evo pints though no re pots fri hencis apa an tha nearing fo ete Aceurey one might ny pe ent. white and means very lack Shade of pe.” Or one might ami that Ue eteron se type becomes psychological rather than lope in that the ero print ofthe defiition has become the eno context athe {otal aude wo tht contex of tein ‘Acontradtion of this kind may be meanings, butean never bea Blank; it has tat stated the sujet which under cussion, and has given «sor of tensity tot such a one de ina gridiron pattern in architecture because it gives promioence neither f0 the horzotls nor tothe vertical and in a eheck pater Becaue nether elou is the ground on which theater BS placed; ts at oneean indecision and structure, ks the symbol ofthe Crus, Ori may convey an imprenon of eons 8 ornamentation sich asthe Stamina oad, fate carlest surviving civilised designs, by putting two beasts in exactly symmetrical attitudes of violence, as in supporting = SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY 9 80 that whatever tendencies 10 action are ars alarmed spectator, however he imagines the victim othe tohave been placed, there is just the sume claim on bit ive attention, with « easeuring impossbiliey, being male ‘other sie, and he is dravm taut between the two sim into the stasis of appreciation. You might reat it !0 diflerence of sound heard by the two ears, which decides re the sound is coming from, or to the stereoscopic cont that imply a dimension.” Joposites, agin, are an important clement in the Freuiits lysis of dreams; and itis evident that the Freudian termi~ particularly the word “condensation,” gould be employed profit for the understanding of poetry, Now a Freudian ite at lest marks dissatisfaction; the notion of what it involves the idca that you have not got it, and this sein wolves the ‘opposite defined by your context, which is what Ihave and cannotavold. In moze serious eases, causing wide® tional ceverheration, auch as are likely to be relleced {9 sage, in poetry, or in dreams, it marks a centre of eonfits fe notion of what you want involves the notion that you must take it, and this again involves the ‘opposite defined by your that you want something different in another part of ir mind, OF course, conflict need not he expressed overtly ‘contradiction, but itis likely that those theories of aesthetics “which regard poetry a8 the resolution of a conflict will find tit illustrations chiefly in the limited field covered by the seventh type a "The study of Hebrew, by the way, and the existence of English ‘ibles with alternatives in the margin, may have had inlvens> ‘on the capacity of English for ambiguity; Donne, Herbert, Jonson, and Crashaw, for instance, were Hebrew scholars, an the flowering of poctry a the end of the sixteenth century core sponded with the first thorough permeation of the English Tanguage by the tranelated texte. This ia of interest because ap ey tei im he rnin mt wh om at SlP%ety bewvy on the receiving eid. One could of cae, leo erode Bia pectic pusning shou the react of eotreane ‘Sian wine mer ta realy lg nn eat Spode tn Brut dnreey tree mone San ene Tanabe tert me sendy