English Literature / Unit 2 ENL 0105 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Symbol and Allegory
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The idea
A symbol is a thing that stands for something beyond itself while remaining itself. An allegory is a whole narrative whose characters and events stand for moral or political ideas, sustained throughout. Spenser's Faerie Queene and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress are the glossary's examples of sustained allegory.
In practice
One thing, or a whole story, meaning more.
Where people slip
Allegory is systematic; a symbol need not be.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- 0106Imagery and Patterns of Imagery
- 0212The Dream of the Rood
- 0412Everyman and the Morality Play
- 0511Spenser's Faerie Queene: Plan and Allegory
- 0521Allegory in Spenser: A Worked Reading
- 0905Absalom and Achitophel
- 0914Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress
- 1133The Mariner: Albatross and Ballad Form
- 1328"Goblin Market"
- 1626"Digging" and the Bog Poems
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