SYMBOLISM

Subject: literary forms and movements

Submitted to: Ma’am Akdas Khanam
Submitted by :Group 10 (4th semester-MA)
(2021-2025)
BS English
GUWUF
‘’Symbolism is the use of a symbol, which can be
a word or an image, to communicate a distinct
idea.’’

• We live in a world full of symbols: Flags, icons, and

even colors work symbolically to help us navigate
our environments.

SYMBOL OF PEACE
 INTRODUCTION
• It  was a late 19th-century art movement. In literature, the style
originates with the 1857 publication of Charles Baudelaire’s Les
Fleurs du mal.
• The name “symbolist” itself was coined by the critic Jean Moréas.
He created the term to distinguish the symbolists from related
decadents of literature and art. Moréas, who published the
Symbolist Manifesto (Le Symbolisme) in Le Figaro on 18
September 1886
• Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Paul Verlaine the three leading
poets of the movement.
•  Poets, musicians, artists, and writers all used Symbolism to express
meaning in an indirect manner.
• Symbolist painters wanted their pictures to depict a meaning
beyond just the figures they drew.
• The Symbolism movement was born in France, but there were strong
movements in Russia, Belgium, and Austria as well
• Influenced: European and American literatures of the 20th century to
varying degrees.
•  Symbolist artists sought to express individual emotional experience
through the subtle and suggestive use of highly symbolized language.

Reaction against: naturalism and realism

Closely associated with impressionism
Influenced surrealism and modernism
 “The Persistence of Memory,”
Salvador Dalí's Surrealist
Masterpiece plunges the viewer
into a dreamlike and definitely
strange universe where hard and
soft surfaces coexist (surrealism)
Fluidity of life (symbolism)
SYMBOLISM REPRESENTATION :
 SYMBOLISM IN LITERARTURE
"Animal Farm" by George Orwell: The
animals on the farm are symbolic of
different social classes and political
ideologies. For example, the pigs represent
the leaders of the Communist Party in Russia
"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald:
The green light is a symbol of hope and
the American Dream. It represents
Gatsby's longing for his lost love, Daisy,
and his desire to achieve his goals
 Use of symbolism in medieval
LITERATURE
• Different author and poets use symbols in
their works such as Shakespeare, Marlow,
John Donne and Edmund Spenser.
•  Rémy de Gourmont was the principal
Symbolist critic
• Symbolist criteria were applied most
successfully to the novel by Joris
-Karl Huysmans 
• And to the theatre by the Belgian 
Maurice Maeterlinck.
• The French poets Paul Valéry and Paul Claudel
 are sometimes considered to be direct 20th-
century heirs of the Symbolists.
 Symbolism in paintings
• Symbolist painters believed that art should reflect an
emotion or idea, rather than represent the natural world in
a realistic way.
• Symbolists weren’t unified in a distinct and homogeneous
group. Instead they resided across all of Europe and
worked independently. They had varying aesthetic goals
but all shared a similar mindset. Among the leading artists
we should mention: Gustave Moreau, Gustav Klimt, 
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Jacek Malczewski, 
Odilon Redon, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Edvard Munch,
and Félicien Rops. Also, Auguste Rodin is sometimes
considered a Symbolist sculptor. Each of them perceived
Symbolism in a different way.
• Symbolist painters used a wide variety of subjects
including heroes, women, animals, and landscapes.
• They typically gave these subjects deep meanings
such as love, death, sin, religion, or disease.
• They would use metaphors (or symbols) rather
than real life to represent something
• The Symbolists produced imaginary dream worlds
populated with mysterious figures from biblical
stories, Greek mythology, and fantastical creatures.
• It all started with Edgar Allan Poe, whose works
were translated by Baudelaire.
• Women became the favored
symbol for the expression of
these universal emotions,
appearing alternately as wistful
virgins and menacing  femmes
fatales. In this latter category,
Gustave Moreau popularized the
motifs of Salome brandishing the
head of John the Baptist and the
man-eating sphinx through
paintings such as Oedipus and
the Sphinx. Klimt’s works were
perceived as scandalous, as they
depicted women of Viennese
Gustave Moreau, The
upper-class as seductresses.
Apparition, 1876

Ida Reading a Letter (Vilhelm
Hammershoi)
Hammershoi often painted
sparse interiors and
portraits with the person
turned to the side or with
their backs to the viewer.
In this picture Ida,
Hammershoi's wife, is
sideways reading a letter.
The door to her right is
open, inviting her to leave.
The table appears to have
only one setting. These
symbols give the viewer
the feeling of loneliness
that the lady is feeling
while reading the letter.
 Famous Symbolism Artists
•Pierre Purvis de Chavannes - This
French painter was one of the
leaders of the Symbolist
movement. He was also known
for painting murals in buildings.
•Ferdinand Hodler - A well known
Swiss painter who became part
of the Expressionist movement
late in his career.
Murals by pierre purvis de
chavannes
• Gustave Moreau - Moreau used Biblical as well as
mythological characters in many of his paintings.

Paintings by Gustave Moreau

Gustav Klimt - Klimt's paintings have gained fame in recent years.
He was an Austrian painter who worked in Vienna. His most
famous paintings include The Kiss as well as two portraits of
Adele Bloch-Bauer.

The kiss
 This portrait of a woman
was sold for $135 million
in 2006. At the time it
was the most expensive
painting ever sold. In the
painting the model is
covered in a golden
gown. The gown is
extremely decorated
with fancy details and
gold leaf. The gown
forms a powerful symbol
of a person changing
their identity as well as
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer the hope of the future
I (Gustav Klimt)
Gustav Klimt, Music, 1895
 • Vilhelm Hammershoi - A Danish painter known for his
symbolist portraits and stark interiors.

Vilhelm Hammershoi Interior 1899 Self potrait

•Edvard Munch - Most famous for his
painting The Scream, this Norwegian artist
had a great influence on the Expressionist
movement.
•The Scream by Edvard Munch seems to be
the most well-known Symbolist work. It is
the best exemplification of the fin-de-
siècle feelings of isolation, disillusionment,
and psychological anguish conveyed
through distorted forms, expressive
colors, and fluid brushwork. Munch’s style
is based on the real anxieties of modern
existence. His paintings explore themes of
illness, loneliness, despair, and mental
suffering associated with love. Munch
deemed these conditions emblematic of
“modern psychic life.”
 Hugo Simberg - A
Finnish painter,
Simberg is most famous
for his painting The
Wounded Angel.
In this painting, a young
angel is being carried
by two boys. The angel
is wounded and the
two boys are very
serious. One of the
boys is looking directly
at the viewer. The angel
was a symbol of the
ideal, but it was
wounded when it
meets with reality. It
was voted Finland's
national painting in
2006
The Wounded Angel (Hugo Simberg)
• Odilon Redon - This
French painter was a
leader of the
Symbolism movement.
He said his work was
meant to inspire
people.

Odilon Redon, Eye-
Balloon, 1878
• Victor Vasnetsov -
A leader in the
Russian art revival,
Vasnetsov painted
both historical and
mythological
subjects
Symbolism in Theatre

• The theatre is quite often a blend of both performing

and visual arts as they work in harmony.
• Paul Fort, a French poet, opened up the Theatre d’Art in
1890, where a lot of symbolist plays were done.
• The symbolist playwrights of the time included Paul
Claudel and Auguste Villiers de L’Isle-Adam from
France, along with Maurice Maeterlinck from Belgium.
There are other playwrights that dabbled in symbolism,
namely Eugene O’Neill from America, W.B. Yeats from
Ireland and August Strindberg from Sweden.

"The Blue Bird" by Maurice Maeterlinck: This
play, first performed in 1908, is a classic example
of Symbolist theatre. The play features a young
girl named Mytyl who goes on a magical journey
to find the Blue Bird of Happiness. The play's
themes of spiritual searching, the beauty of
nature, and the importance of imagination and
wonder reflect Symbolist ideas
"Pelléas and Mélisande" by Maurice
Maeterlinck: This play, first performed in
1893, is a landmark of Symbolist theatre.
The play is a poetic exploration of love,
death, and the mysteries of the
subconscious. The play's emphasis on mood,
atmosphere, and symbolism make it a classic
of the Symbolist movement
 Other Examples

The lightning-shaped scar that Harry

receives from Voldemort symbolizes
everything unique and astounding
about Harry
Joker represents the storm within the calm
In the God Father oranges
are symbol of death
 Symbolism in songs

• The boat is representing

journey of life.
• Lonely mermaid in the water
represents that life is
beautiful yet lonely.
• The girl in the boat is
enjoying her journey of life
and seeing the beauty of life
• The boys are so lost in their
own that they can't even see
the beauty the life holds
 THANK YOU!
Group #10
Mussafa Zainab- Roll #9
Saman Qayyum- Roll #11
Shafqat Batool- Roll #14
Waffa Shahzad- Roll #21
Ayesha Ashraf- Roll #44

Editing by Waffa Shahzad