Allegory

Allegory

The word allegory is a literary device that comes from Latin allegoria. It is a metaphor in which a character, place or event is used to deliver a broader message about real-world issues and occurrences. Allegory occurred widely throughout history in all forms of art, largely. Writers or speakers typically use allegories as literary devices  that convey (semi-)hidden or complex meanings through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, or events, which together create the moral, spiritual, or political meaning the author wishes to convey.  

Types of Allegory

Classical Allegory

The origins of Allegory can be traced back to Homer in his "quasi-allegorical" use of personifications of, e.g., Terror (Deimos) and Fear (Phobos). The title of "first allegorist," however, is usually awarded to whoever was the earliest to put forth allegorical interpretations of Homer. This approach leads to two possible answers: Theagenes of Rhegium  or Pherecydes of Syros, though Pherecydes is earlier and as he is often presumed to be the first writer of prose. In the case of "interpreting allegorically," Theagenes appears to be our earliest example.

In classical literature two of the best-known allegories are the Cave in Plato's Republic (Book VII)

In this allegory, Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. This allegory is, on a basic level, about a philosopher who upon finding greater knowledge outside the cave of human understanding, seeks to share it as is his duty, and the foolishness of those who would ignore him because they think themselves educated enough.

Biblical Allegory

Other early allegories are found in the Hebrew Bible, such as the extended metaphor in Psalm 80 of the Vine and its impressive spread and growth, representing Israel's conquest and peopling of the Promised Land. 

Ezekiel 16 and 17, wherein the capture of that same vine by the mighty Eagle represents Israel's exile to Babylon.

Allegorical interpretation of the Bible was a common early Christian practice and continues

Medieval Allegory

Allegory has an ability to freeze the story temporally, while infusing it with a spiritual context. Mediaeval thinking accepted allegory as having a reality underlying any rhetorical or fictional uses. The allegory was as true as the facts of the surface appears. Example Papal Bull Unam Sanctam (1302) presenting the theme of the unity Christendom

The denial of medieval allegory in the 12th-century works of Hugh of St Victor and Edward Topsell's Historie of Foure-footed Beastes and its replacement in the study of nature with methods of categorisation and mathematics by such figures as naturalist John Ray and the astronomer Galileo is thought to mark the beginnings of early modern science

Modern Allegory

Since meaningful stories are nearly always applicable to larger issues, allegories may be read into many stories which the author may not have recognised. This is called allegoresis, or the act of reading a story as an allegory. Examples of allegory in popular culture that may or may not have been intended (planned) include the works of Bertolt Brecht, and even some works of science fiction and fantasy, such as The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Complete Swan Lake Trilogy by Mark Helprin.

Allegory in Poetry

Like allegorical stories, allegorical poetry has two meanings – a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning

 

 Examples of Allegory in Literature

Example #1: Animal Farm (By George Orwell)

Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, is an allegory that uses animals on a farm to describe the overthrow of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, and the Communist Revolution of Russia before WW I. The actions of the animals on the farm are used to expose the greed and corruption of the revolution. It also describes how powerful people can change the ideology of a society. One of the cardinal rules on the farm is this: “All animals are equal but few are more equal than the others”.

The animals on the farm represent different sections of Russian society after the revolution.

For instance, the pigs represent those who came to power following the revolution; “Mr. Jones,” the owner of the farm, represents the overthrown Tsar Nicholas II; while “Boxer” the horse, represents the laborer class. The use of allegory in the novel allows Orwell to make his position clear about the Russian Revolution and expose its evils.

Example #2: Faerie Queen (By Edmund Spenser)

Faerie Queen, a masterpiece of Edmund Spenser, is a moral and religious allegory.

The good characters of book stand for the various virtues, while the bad characters represent vices. “The Red-Cross Knight” represents holiness, and “Lady Una” represents truth, wisdom, and goodness. Her parents symbolize the human race. The “Dragon,” which has imprisoned them, stands for evil.

The mission of holiness is to help the truth fight evil, and thus regain its rightful place in the hearts of human beings. “The Red-Cross Knight” in this poem also represents the reformed church of England, fighting against the “Dragon,” which stands for the Papacy or the Catholic Church.