As a literary device, an allegory in its most general sense is an extended metaphor. An allegory may be: 1) the representation of abstract principles by characters or figures; 2) a picture, book, or other form of communication using such representation; or 3) a symbolic representation which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, usually a moral or political one.

• In the modern world, allegory has lost its value and it has been denied that it can express the nature or function of poetry. It has been seen as the juxtaposition of two different spiritual facts, the concept on the one hand and the image on the other, between which it would establish a conventional and arbitrary correlation (Croce); and above all, it has been accused of neglecting or rendering impossible the autonomy of the poetic image, which would have no life of its own because it would be subordinate to the requirements of the conceptual scheme it is supposed to embody. Much of modern aesthetics therefore declares allegory to be cold, poor and boring; and rather insists, in the interpretation of poetry and art in general, on the value of the symbol, which can be alive and evocative because the symbolic image is autonomous and has an interest in itself, that is, an interest that does not derive from its conventional reference to a concept or doctrine. However, if we take into account the power or vitality of certain works of art with a clear allegorical structure (e.g., the Divine Comedy and many medieval and Renaissance paintings), we must say that allegory does not necessarily make the autonomy and lightness of the aesthetic image impossible and that, in certain cases, even the precise correspondence between the image and the concept may not be mortifying for the former and may not take away from it the vitality of art or poetry. T. S. Eliot made a defence of allegory in this sense, precisely with regard to Dante.

• Nicola Abbagnano, from Dizionario di filosofia (Dictionary of Philosophy), Utet, Turin, 1971.

• I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author.
  • J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Foreword to the Second Edition (October 1966)

• Allegorical interpretation of the Bible
• Hermeneutics