Examples Of Allegory – Examples Of A Story Within a Story
EXAMPLES OF ALLEGORY – In this topic, we are going to read some examples of allegory, which is a story within a story.
As mentioned before, it is a figure of speech wherein abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures, and events.
This can be used in poetry to voice out a story with the purpose of lecturing or explaining the said ideas and principles.
This can be confused with symbolism due to the fact that it uses symbols. The difference is it pertains to a complete narrative where they use characters or events in order to explain abstract ideas or events.
- Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter. In Hawthorne’s novel, set in the 1600s but published in 1850, Hester Prynne is forced to undergo public humiliation, including wearing the scarlet letter “A” (standing for “adultress”) after she becomes pregnant out of wedlock. The scarlet letter is itself an allegorical representation of sin, and how society punishes it. The novel can be read as a criticism of the hypocrisy of a Puritanical society.
- Aesop’s Fables. These fables were originally part of an oral tradition in ancient Greece, and are credited to an ancient Greek slave named Aesop. They are a collection of fables, often aimed at children, that offer guidance on a wide variety of social, political, and religions topics. Aesop’s Fables are allegory in the form of instructive lessons—stories that teach children how to behave and what to value.
- 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.
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