“The Pilgrim’s Regress” is a book of allegorical fiction by C.S. Lewis. It was published in 1933 and is considered to be Lewis’s first published work of prose fiction. The book charts the progress of a fictional character named John through a philosophical landscape in search of the Island of his desire. Lewis’s conversion to …
Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Book of the Duchess” is a poem that is widely regarded as one of the most important works of medieval English literature. The poem was written in the late 14th century and tells the story of a knight who falls asleep and dreams of a hunt. The hunt becomes a metaphor for …
The City of God is a philosophical treatise written by St. Augustine in the early 5th century. It is considered a masterpiece of Western culture and is a response to pagan claims that the sack of Rome in 410 CE was a result of the abolition of pagan worship by Christian emperors. The book explores …
The butterfly’s dream is a famous Taoist allegory that has been passed down through the ages. It is a story about a man named Zhuangzi who dreamed he was a butterfly and upon waking up, he was unsure if he was a man who had just dreamt of being a butterfly or a butterfly now …
“The Hind and the Panther” is a poem written by John Dryden in 1687. This poem is considered one of the most significant works of religious allegory in English literature. It is a long poem in three parts, totaling 2,592 lines, and is written in heroic couplets. The poem is an allegory that tells the …
“Surprised by Sin: The Reader in Paradise Lost” is a book written by Stanley Fish in 1967, which has been influential in shaping the critical interpretations of John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost.” Fish argues that the primary subject of the poem is the reader and not God or Satan. He asserts that the poem …
The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz is a German book edited in 1616 in Strasbourg. Its anonymous authorship is attributed to Johann Valentin Andreae. The Chymical Wedding is often described as the third of the original manifestos of the mysterious “Fraternity of the Rose Cross” (Rosicrucians), although it is markedly different from the Fama Fraternitatis …
The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili is a book that has fascinated readers and scholars for centuries. Written in the late 15th century by an unknown author, it tells the story of Poliphilo, a young man who dreams of a journey through a fantastical landscape filled with strange creatures and architectural wonders. The book is notable for its …
The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz is an allegorical work that has fascinated readers for centuries. It is a German book edited in 1616 in Strasbourg, and its anonymous authorship is attributed to Johann Valentin Andreae. The Chymical Wedding is often described as the third of the original manifestos of the mysterious “Fraternity of the …
The Romance of the Rose is a medieval French poem that has been the subject of much analysis and interpretation over the centuries. The poem is an allegory that tells the story of a young man’s quest to win the love of a woman symbolized by a rose. The poem is filled with symbolism, allegory, …