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An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, "other", and αγορευειν, agoreuein, "to speak in public") is a figurative representation conveying a meaning other than and in addition to the literal. It is generally treated as a figure of rhetoric, but an allegory does not have to be expressed in language: it may be addressed to the eye, and is often found in painting, sculpture or some form of mimetic art. The etymological meaning of the word is wider than that which it bears in actual use. An allegory is distinguished from a metaphor by being longer sustained and more fully carried out in its details, and from an analogy by the fact that the one appeals to the imagination and the other to the reason. The fable or parable is a short allegory with one definite moral.
The allegory has been a favourite form in the literature of nearly every nation. The Hebrew scriptures present frequent instances of it, one of the most beautiful being the comparison of the history of Israel to the growth
of a vine in the 80th Psalm. In classical literature one of the best known allegories is the story of the stomach and its members in the speech of Menenius Agrippa ( Livy ii. 32); and several occur in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Some elaborate and successful specimens of allegory are to be found in the works of authors:
- Edmund Spenser – The Faerie QueeneThe Faerie Queene is a poem by Edmund Spenser, first published in 1590 (the first half) with the more or less complete version being published in 1596. The poem found political favour with Elizabeth I and was consequently very successful, to the extent of
- Jonathan SwiftJonathan Swift ( November 30, 1667 October 19, 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer and satirist. Jonathan Swift was born, after his father had been dead for seven months, to an English mother, and educated by his Uncle Godwin. After a not very successful care – A Tale of a TubThis article is about the satire by Jonathan Swift. For the 1633 play by Ben Jonson, see A Tale of a Tub (play . A Tale of a Tub was the first major work written by Jonathan Swift, having been composed between 1694 and 1697 and published in 1704. It is li
- Joseph AddisonJoseph Addison ( May 1, 1672 June 17, 1719) was an English politician and writer. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend, Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine. Addison was born in Milston, Wiltshir – Vision of Mirza
- John BunyanJohn Bunyan ( November 30, 1628 August 31, 1688), a Christian writer and preacher, was born at Harrowden (1 mile south-east of Bedford), in the Parish of Elstow, England. He wrote The Pilgrim's Progress arguably the most famous published Christian allegor – Pilgrim's Progress
- AesopAesop or sop (from the Greek Aisopos , famous for his Fables, is supposed to have lived from about 620 to 560 B. Aesop's Fables are still taught as moral lessons and used as subjects for various entertainments especially children's plays and cartoons. – Fables
- Jean de La FontaineJean de La Fontaine (c. July 8, 1621 April 13, 1695), French poet, was born at Chateau-Thierry in Champagne. His Fables of animals and everyday life took their inspiration from Aesop and Horace but they are masterworks of French literature. The first coll – Fables
- René Daumal – A Night of Serious Drinking
- William Golding – Lord of the Flies
- George Orwell – Animal Farm
Allegorical artworks include:
Classical allegories include:
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