I was thinking about literary devices that were talked about throughout my education. There was always an unclear murkiness in my brain as to what they all meant. These devices were referred to in the visual arts as well.
The two most common literary and artistic devices that were tossed around were metaphors and allegories. Both of these devices use figurative language to convey meanings beyond the literal sense of the words. A metaphor is a direct comparison between two unlike things such as “life is a roller coaster.” The two unlike things are roller coaster and life. An allegory is an extended metaphor that uses characters, events and symbols to represent abstract ideas or moral lessons. For example, George Orwell's "Animal Farm" is an allegory that uses animals to represent different classes and groups in the Russian Revolution, criticizing the corruption in the Soviet regime.
The main difference between metaphor and allegory is that metaphor is a simple and brief comparison while allegory is a sustained and complex comparison. Metaphor usually works on the level of words or sentences, while allegory works on the level of a whole story or text. Metaphor can be used to create vivid images or express emotions, while allegory can be used to convey hidden meanings or teach moral lessons. Metaphor and allegory are both effective ways of using language creatively and persuasively, but they have different purposes on the reader or viewer.
Neel Burton, M.D., in his article "The Psychology of Allegory and Metaphor" in "Psychology Today" says, "An important advantage of allegory is that it can be approached on more than one level, meaning that people can enjoy an allegory on many levels and see in it as much or as little as they are prepared to see or indeed, whatever they want to see, bending the allegory to the curve and twists of their minds.”
Here are a few examples of works that use symbolism, allegory or metaphor:
The novel "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism to represent the American Dream and the corruption of the wealthy.
The fantasy series "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R Tolkien uses allegory to explore themes of power, corruption and good versus evil. And the novella "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka uses metaphor to explore themes of identity, isolation and existentialism.
More examples of allegory are:
The religious allegory "The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan follows a man named Christian on a journey to the Celestial City.
The philosophical allegory Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave" explores the difference between visible and invisible.
A few famous works of art at the St. Louis Art Museum that include metaphor and allegory are:
The painting "Mary, Lady Guildford” by Hans Holbein the Younger depicts the wife of Henry Guildford, one of the accountants of King Henry VIII of England. The woman is holding a prayer book and staring at the viewer with a strong gaze. The artist filled the composition with a Renaissance pillar and grape leaves, a symbol of wealth.
The painting "Judgment of Paris” by Lucas Cranach the Elder depicts a scene from Greek mythology in which the knight Paris is chosen to judge an Olympian beauty contest. The women were depicted according to the ideal of beauty during this period of history.
The painting "St .Paul” by El Greco is a half-length portrait of St. Paul while he holds both a sword and a note in Greek letters, a reference to the Greek heritage of the Mannerist artist.
A few other famous works of art that feature allegory or metaphor are:
The triptych painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymus Bosch is a complex allegory of sin and mortality with each panel representing a different stage of human life.
The engraving "Melancholia" by Albrecht Durer is an allegory for melancholy with a winged female figure personifying sadness.
The painting "An Allegory with Venus and Cupid" by Agnolo Bronzino is an allegory and folly that come with love.
Also, allegory and metaphor appear in well-known plays such as the phrase “all the world's a stage" in Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” The metaphor implies that life is a performance full of changes and surprises.
And I recently saw a production at The New Jewish Theatre of Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" which is the metaphor of all metaphors using fairy tales as a metaphor for life. It means that characters go into the woods to pursue their wishes and face the consequences of their actions. It also means that life is full of uncertainty and sometimes tragedy and that sometimes we have to deal with moral dilemmas and responsibilities. The play was also made into a Disney movie.
Finally, "The Matrix" is a science fiction film that depicts a dystopian future where humans are enslaved by machines that use their bodies as a source of energy. The film is also an allegory of the philosophical concept of the nature of reality, as the main character Neo discovers that the world he lives in is a simulated reality called The Matrix, and he has to choose between accepting or rejecting it.
So, many works of literature, plays, movies and even symphonies need to be seen, read or heard again.
Nancy Kranzberg has been involved in the arts community for more than forty years on numerous arts related boards.