What is allegory and why is it used by writers? How many different artistic means exist with which the author manages to embellish his work, make it brighter and more interesting? Everyone has heard about hyperbole, metaphor, comparison, epithet and other artistic means of expression.
Allegory: Definition
According to the Great Encyclopedic Dictionary, allegory is a means of expression with a hidden meaning. In strict meaning, it is the same as allegory, when one phenomenon is depicted using another phenomenon, object or creature.
But what is allegory in the broad sense? We can say that this is a statement that does not lie on the surface. And to understand the author, you need to think a little. Perhaps it’s worth reading several times and then you can figure out why this artistic tool was used.
Types of allegory
As mentioned earlier, allegory is an allegory. Or, conversely, allegory is a subspecies of this means of expression. Most often, this type is used to depict any ideas in the form of a certain image in mythology and fairy tales. For example, portraying a lion, the author implies strength and dexterity, portraying a hare - shows cowardice. Thus, the images of animals through allegory indicate a particular trait that is characteristic of man.
What is a personification allegory? This is the endowment of an inanimate being or object with human qualities. Both nouns and verbs can be used here. For example, in fairy tales and poems one can often find phrases and words such as “the sun began to play”, “the witch-winter came” and “the queen-night”.
Allegory: examples from the literature
In the works often use various techniques, including allegory. It can be either individual words or phrases, or whole works in the form of fables, fairy tales and even stories. Such artistic means can be found in the works of V.M. Garshin, novels by Anatole France or Karel Chapek.
In the fables of I.A. Krylova is present in abundance of allegory. In these works, the author often compares a person with an animal. Saltykov-Shchedrin also resorted to this expressive tool and used it in his tales.
So what is allegory and why is it used so often by poets and writers? This artistic tool is considered one of the main in literary criticism. The allegory is used by the authors to reveal the abstract concept of good and evil, mind and stupidity, generosity and greed.