Allegory

Definition
• is a narrative in which the agents and action, and sometimes setting as well, are
contrived not only to make sense in themselves but also tosignify a 2nd, correlated
order of persons, things, concepts or events.
• There are two main types:
1) Historical and political allegory, in which the characters and the action represent
or allegorize, historical personages and events.
2) The allegory of ideas, in which the characters represent abstract concepts and the
plot serves to communicate a doctrine or thesis.
Why • Allegory does not become dated by the
passage of time.

allegories
• Although the underlying meaning might be
difficult to understand, it is universal and it
can apply to different times, people or
situations.

work?
 Well-known
allegories
• Biblical allegories
• Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.