What is allegory

Dream comes from a mystical realm in which legends and myths are real, and after his capture he struggles to get back to that realm before it falls into chaos. This is a complex allegory for the relationship between death, dreaming, and human mythology. Allegories are always rich in symbolism. That is, nearly everything in them stands for something else: each character can represent a historical figure, a philosophical idea, or an aspect of human psychology, etc.

Most stories have this kind of symbolism here and there, but it is extremely used in allegories. Both allegories and parables contain messages, but allegories express them through symbolism , while parables illustrate the messages.

In other words, the characters and situations in an allegory each symbolize some specific aspect of the moral story. List of Terms Action. Ad Hominem. Alter Ego. APA Citation. Comic Relief. Deus ex machina. Choose a dictionary. Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English.

Grammar Thesaurus. Word Lists. Choose your language. My word lists. Tell us about this example sentence:. The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Or is it more about how we choose to engage with a text, a movie, or a piece of art?

Allegory is fascinating because, in order for it to work, you as a reader need to approach the text as if it were an allegory! Skip to main content. Toggle menu Go to search page. Doctorow , Loon Lake , Recent Examples on the Web The Genovese case outraged a city, moving from real-life crime to allegory of the moral decay wrought by urban living. First Known Use of allegory 14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1.

Learn More About allegory. Time Traveler for allegory The first known use of allegory was in the 14th century See more words from the same century. From the Editors at Merriam-Webster. Trending: Jennifer Lawrence: 'Mother! Style: MLA. Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary. Test your vocabulary with our question quiz!

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