Wisdom is one of the earliest surviving medieval morality plays. It is part of a collection of early English moralities known as “The Macro Plays,” which also includes Mankind and The Castle of Perseverance. As an allegory, Wisdom enacts the struggle between good and evil, depicting Christ personified in the character of Wisdom. The play …
Types of Allegories
Jean Sibelius’ The Maiden in the Tower is a one-act opera that was written in 1896. The piece was a collaboration with the Finnish author Rafael Hertzberg, who wrote the Swedish-language libretto. The opera tells a simple tale of chivalry, where the Bailiff abducts and imprisons the Maiden in a tower. The opera is known …
“The Night Land” is a novel written by William Hope Hodgson that was first published in 1912. The novel is a work of fantasy that belongs to the subgenre of Dying Earth. The plot of the novel is set in the far future, where the sun has died, and the world is covered in darkness. …
Karel Čapek’s “War with the Newts” is a satirical science fiction novel that explores themes of exploitation, colonization, and the consequences of unchecked technological progress. First published in 1936, the book is a biting commentary on various political and social issues, using the premise of an unlikely war between humans and a race of intelligent …
Frans Masereel’s “The Idea” is a wordless novel that tells an allegory of a man’s idea, which takes the form of a naked woman who goes out into the world. The book is composed of eighty-three woodcut prints that offer a profound exploration of the human experience. The story is told through the power of …
“A River Runs Through It” is a semi-autobiographical novella written by Norman Maclean. The story is set in early 20th century Montana and follows the lives of two brothers, Norman and Paul, as they grow up in a family that values fly-fishing and Presbyterianism. The novella explores themes of family, nature, and spirituality through the …
The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa is a literary work that has fascinated readers for decades. This book is a journal that contains the reflections of the author, beginning in 1912 at the age of twenty-four, as he anticipated World War I. Pessoa wrote the book mainly for himself under the pseudonym Bernardo Soares, …
“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 …
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 …
Nightwood by Djuna Barnes is a novel that has captured the attention of readers for decades. Published in 1936, it is one of the early prominent novels to portray explicit homosexuality between women, and as such can be considered lesbian literature. The novel employs modernist techniques such as its unusual form or narrative and gothic …