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Allegory and metaphor are literary devices that use symbols, but they are not the same. Allegory is an extended form of metaphor that tells a story using several linked symbols. Metaphor deals with a singular idea or symbol. Understanding the difference between them will help people distinguish them from parables and fables.
An allegory is a narrative in which a component, such as a character or setting, is representative of a particular underlying value or idea. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which an unfamiliar subject is described using an attribute of a familiar subject. Both allegory and metaphor also make great use of symbols. While allegory and metaphor are often used interchangeably, they are not strictly the same thing.
Allegory and metaphor have fundamental similarities, which is why many people often mistake one for the other. Both are literary devices that make use of rhetoric. In general, an allegory can more accurately be thought of as an extended form of a metaphor. Metaphor deals only with a singular idea or symbol and typically consists of a single phrase or sentence, whereas an allegory tells a complete story that consists of several symbols linked together. William Langland’s Piers Plowman and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown are examples of allegory, while the plays of William Shakespeare and the poems of John Donne are rich in metaphors.
Learning the different components of both allegory and metaphor will help people understand the difference between them. A metaphor is a figure of speech, just like a simile. Metaphors and similes are almost the same, except that the similes make comparisons using the word “like” or “like.” For example, “her smile was like the sunlight shining on me” is a simile, while “her smile was like the sunlight shining on me” is a metaphor.
With the metaphor “her smile was the sunlight that shone on me,” the tenor or unfamiliar subject is the woman’s smile, which may be something another person has yet to see. To make it easier for the other person to see the woman’s smile, a familiar subject or vehicle is used for comparison. The author assumes that the vehicle she is using is familiar to everyone. When the writer makes a poor choice of vehicle, a metaphor is meaningless.
Allegories are often mistaken for parables and fables. While all have similar functions and components, the main difference lies in the themes and use of symbols. Parables and fables usually have a single theme or lesson, and all the symbols used in them relate to the lesson being taught. Allegories can have more than one lesson to impart.
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