Henry James’s “The Turn of the Screw” is a classic ghost story that has fascinated readers for over a century. The novella was first published in 1898 and has since become one of James’s most popular works. The story follows a governess who is hired to care for two young children at a remote country …
allegoryexplained
René Daumal’s “A Night of Serious Drinking” is a classic work of symbolic fiction. It was published in 1938 and has since become one of Daumal’s most important literary works. The novel is an allegory that takes the reader on a journey through the absurdities of intellectual society. The book’s protagonist is an unnamed narrator …
White Dog by Romain Gary is a fictional autobiographical novel that tells the story of Gary and his wife’s experiences in the 1960s with a white German Shepherd dog they adopt and name Batka. The novel is an allegory that explores the themes of racism, prejudice, and discrimination through the lens of the relationship between …
Our Twisted Hero by Yi Munyol is a political allegory that explores the transition from dictatorship to democracy in South Korea. The novel follows Han Pyongt’ae, a twelve-year-old boy who moves to a rural town with his family and becomes embroiled in a power struggle within his classroom. At its core, the novel is a …
Mankind is an English medieval morality play that was written around 1470. It is considered a moral allegory about the human race and follows Mankind’s fall into sin and his eventual repentance. The author of the play is unknown, but the manuscript is signed by a monk named Hyngham, who is believed to have transcribed …
Merlin is a legendary figure who has been the subject of countless stories, poems, and plays throughout history. One of the most famous works about Merlin is the epic poem by Robert de Boron. Written in Old French in the late 12th or early 13th century, this poem tells the story of Merlin’s origin and …
Otar Chiladze’s “A Man Was Going Down the Road” is a novel that combines Georgian history and Greek mythology to create an allegory of the treachery and destruction that ensued when Russia, and then the Soviet Union, annexed Georgia. The novel begins with the Greek legend of Jason and the Golden Fleece and the consequences …
“The Land of Green Plums” by Herta Müller is a novel that portrays the lives of four young individuals living in a totalitarian police state in Communist Romania. The book is an allegory that explores the themes of repression, injustice, and the human spirit’s resilience. The novel’s narrator is an unidentified young woman who belongs …
Le livre du chemin de long estude by Christine de Pizan is a first-person dream allegory that presents a critique of the moral state of the world, particularly France, lamenting the results of warfare. Composed in 1402-03, the poem was dedicated to Charles VI of France. In the allegory, the author describes a dream in …
Macranthropy is an allegorical concept that has historical roots in several ancient civilizations. The idea portrays the universe as a giant human body, with various cosmic elements represented as body parts. In Ancient India, the concept of macranthropy is embodied in the mahant-ātman or “vast self” of the Early and Middle periods. This concept has …