Allegories as intented in the morality plays - Essay Example

For others, the term goes much deeper, to include characters, props, space and even time. Confronted with many perspectives, it is important, as a starting point, to pose one guiding definition of what this paper means by the notion of allegory. According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, an allegory serves as a “disguised representation for meanings other than those indicated on the surface.” The allegory is indeed a figure of speech by which meaning can be produced and, as it has to be sought beyond the actual appearance of things, it requires, according to its level of subtleties, an active mental involvement on the part of its pursuer.

On a first surface level, the allegory is concerned with a narrative and the forms assumed by this latter. Independently of the type of narrative involved in the story, may it be prose, verse, drama or simply oral speech, the commonest type of allegory pertains to the storyline. The author narrates his/her events in a certain fashion and he/she orders them according to his/her inclinations. The careful selection of words or a deliberate misuse of them taints the story with a certain atmosphere.

Identifiable themes emerge according to sections or passages, and these emerging themes are often played out and interwoven among themselves. They offer a plus-value to a narrative plot for they grant it with alternative meanings and interpretations. Not only is the narrative embellished by this process, but most importantly it acquires new significance and depth. By this rhetorical means, a drama may well contain traits belonging to a slapstick comedy or vice-versa a jolly light-hearted comedy may indeed reveal itself to be tragic and dreadful.

As mentioned above, the delimitations of themes as well as their intrinsic refinements are seldom made explicit and often call for the reader’s own expertise and undeniably his/her willingness in finding