Allegory
(a compilation of definitions)
from The Norton Introduction to
Literature, Shorter 7th ed. [edited by]
Jerome Beaty and J Paul Hunter, 1998: One
thing (usually nonrational, abstract,
religious) is implicitly spoken of in terms of
something concrete, usually sensuous, but
in an allegory the comparison is extended
to include an entire work or large portion
of a work (A55).
from The Compact Bedford
Introduction to Literature, 4th ed. [edited
by] Michael Meyer, 1997: A narration or
description usually restricted to a single
meaning because its events, actions,
characters, settings, and objects
represent specific abstractions or ideas.
Although the elements in an allegory may
be interesting in themselves, the emphasis
tends to be on what they ultimately mean.
Characters may be given names such as
Hope, Pride, Youth, and Charity; they have
few if any personal qualities beyond their
abstract meanings. They are
personifications of characteristics (1489).
from Literature: An Introduction to
Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, 3rd compact ed.
[edited by] X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia,
2003: A narrative in verse or prose in
which the literal events (persons, places,
and things) consistently point to a parallel
sequence of symbolic ideas. This narrative
strategy is often used to dramatize
abstract ideas, historical events, religious
systems, or political issues. An allegory
has two levels of meaning: a literal level
that tells a surface story and a symbolic
level in which the abstract ideas unfold.
The names of allegorical characters often
hint at their symbolic roles. For example,
in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman
Brown,” Faith is not only the name of the
protagonist’s wife but also a symbol of the
protagonist’s religious faith (1463).
from The Reader’s Companion to World
Literature, [edited by] Lillian Herlands
Hornstein, Dryden Press, 1956: allegory
(Greek: to imply something else): A form of
art that presents a second meaning
beneath the surface meaning. It is an
expanded [or extended] metaphor in which
the characters, action or ideas stand for
some others, for a system of ideas with the
meaning implied, not expressly stated.
Concrete characters often with
identifying tag names are personifications
of abstract ideas. Conspicuous examples
of sustained allegory occur in such
literary types as parables, which are
briefer, less systematic allegories, and in
morality plays (15-6).
from An Introduction to Literature,
11th ed. [edited by] Sylvan Barnet, et al.
1997: A work in which concrete elements
(for instance, a pilgrim, a road, a splendid
city) stand for abstractions (humanity, life,
salvation), usually in an unambiguous, one
to one relationship. The literal items (the
pilgrim, and so on) thus convey a meaning,
which is usually moral, religious, or
political. To take a nonliterary example:
The Statue of Liberty holds a torch
(enlightenment, showing the rest of the
world the way to freedom), and at her feet
are broken chains (tyranny overcome). A
caution: not all the details in an
allegorical work are meant to be
interpreted. For example, the hollowness
of the Statue of Liberty does not stand for
the insubstantiality or emptiness of liberty
(1532).
cont. from Barnet: Each character is
understood to have an equivalent
(Candide=innocence). Not only characters
but also things (roads, forests, houses)
have fairly clear equivalents
(road=journey of life). [Candide] offers
the surface story of a [man/boy] taking a
trip, and a second story, understood
through the first, of the trials that afflict
the soul during its quest for salvation (92).