allegory |
al'-le-go-ry | from Gk. eirein, “to speak” |
allegoria | |
permutatio | |
the figure of false semblant, continued metaphor |
A sustained metaphor continued through whole sentences or even through a whole discourse. | ||
Examples | ||
The most obvious
use of allegory is work-length narratives such as the medieval Everyman
or Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.
Quintilian labels allegory what is elsewhere
called a "conceit": an extended metaphor: Allegory also occurs when an allusion is made
with no introductory explanation and the speaker trusts the audience
to make the connection, as in the following example, where reference
is made to the historic landing of a craft on the moon, but no direct
connection is made to the more mundane application of this allusion: |
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Related Figures | ||
Related Topics of Invention | ||
See Also | ||
Sources: | Ad Herennium 4.34.46 ("permutatio"); Quintilian 8.6.44-58; Bede 615-618; Susenbrotus (1540) 12-14 ("allegoria," "inversio," "permutatio"); Sherry (1550) 45; Peacham (1577) D1r; Putt. (1589) 197 ("allegoria," "the figure of false semblant"); Day 1599 79; Hoskins 1599 9. |
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