Narrative Sub-Genres: Allegory

• The Illiad by Homer
• The Odyssey by Homer
• The Allegory of the Cave by Plato
• The Divine Comedy by Dante
• The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• The Hare and the Tortoise by Aesop
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne
• The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spenser
• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carol
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
• The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• The Crucible: A play in four acts by Arthur Miller
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach
• Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
• The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Sneetches by Dr Seuss
• The Big Lebowski by The Coen Brothers
• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
• Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• Inferno by Dante Alighieri
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• Beloved by Tony Morrison 
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• Watership Down by Richard Adams
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Son (Giver #4) by Lois Lowry
• Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert L. Stevenson

The historic allegory definition stems from the ancient Greek word, ἀλληγορία, meaning other speak.

Today, we know allegory as a long-held literary device that distills complex ideas into a simple, accessible story. Think of allegory as a double meaning or even an equation:

Literal meaning + Hidden meaning = Allegory

Figurative language, like metaphor, personification, and simile, helps convey an allegory’s deeper meaning. However, symbolism reigns in allegory with characters, action, even setting becoming fair game.

You can use allegory in two ways:

1) Historical allegory masks actual events or people for socio-political commentary.

For example: Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is a covert criticism of British politics.

2) Conceptual allegory buries an abstract idea, philosophy, and morality within a story.

For example: In The Faerie Queene, Edmund Spenser uses personification to turn virtues into knights.

SOURCE: Maiellaro, M. (2023) 10 Allegory examples from Literature, Film and Music, from Smartblogger, https://smartblogger.com/allegory-examples/