35
votes
Accepted
If Tolkien disliked allegory, why are there so many allegorical readings of The Lord of the Rings?
It was an allegory because, in spite of his dislike, Tolkien felt it was necessary and inevitable that it should be one.
In several lesser-known quotes, the author freely admits that the tale is ...
- 21k
9
votes
Accepted
Are any of the countries in Hard to Be a God based specifically on particular real-life countries?
Original Authorial Intent:
"Three Musketeers"-ish pre-Age-of-Discovery kinda-Spain-cum-Russia-or-France (sans muskets).
Based on Boris Strugatsky's "Commentaries to the past" (...
- 4,476
9
votes
If Tolkien disliked allegory, why are there so many allegorical readings of The Lord of the Rings?
You're confusing allegory with applicability. Allegory implies authorial intent while applicability is up to the reader. Tolkien understood that applicability was out of his control. Readers can see ...
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6
votes
If Tolkien disliked allegory, why are there so many allegorical readings of The Lord of the Rings?
There are different types or "levels" of allegory. Some are stricter, and others are looser.
A frequently cited example of the strict type of allegory is The Pilgrim's Progress by John ...
- 898
6
votes
Accepted
How much does "The Parable of the Old Man and the Young" differ from the original Bible story?
How much does this poem differ from the Bible story?
The poem appears to be mostly consistent with the original Biblical story (starting with Gen. 22:3, through part of Gen. 22:13). As to your three ...
- 5,930
5
votes
What is the difference between a 'metaphor' and an 'allegory'?
An allegory is an extended metaphor. A metaphor might have one point of commonality between the story and reality; the allegory might have many.
Allegory and metaphor are figures of speeches often ...
- 151
4
votes
Political allegory in Lukyanenko's Watch series?
Communities of the Light Ones and the Dark Ones can be interpreted as a political allegory. Here is a dialog from the first book "Night Watch", Story 2, Chapter 2:
Anton: «A Dark Magician ...
- 251
4
votes
Political Allegory in Shepheardes Calendar
tl;dr
Regardless of whether the goat is identified with Queen Elizabeth or George Buchanan, the claim that the fable of the fox and the kid in the May eclogue of the The Shepheardes Calendar is an ...
- 22.1k
3
votes
Accepted
What is the story of the woman who collected valueless things?
I have been unable to find any definite story of a parabolic woman who collected valueless things. However a closer reading of the G. K. Chesterton story, especially reading the context of the quotes ...
- 352
3
votes
If Tolkien disliked allegory, why are there so many allegorical readings of The Lord of the Rings?
The Lord of the Rings is only an allegory in the eyes of (some) readers and critics; JRRT himself set out to write an adventure, a sequel to The Hobbit, in fact, a story for children. This is still ...
2
votes
Are the inconsistencies in Harry Potter symbolic or allegorical?
If you want you can interpret the books this way. But I honestly just think that she didn't care about such things. I believe that the way a Quidditch game ends simply serves as her goal to write a ...
- 442
2
votes
Why did Rachel Carson begin “Silent Spring” with an allegory?
There is a misapprehension in the question. An allegory is a fiction in which characters, places and events stand for real people and concepts. For example, in Spenser’s Faerie Queene, the characters ...
- 53.5k
2
votes
What is the story of the woman who collected valueless things?
A possible source for this idea might be a story from the Bible, 2 Kings, Chapter 4. Quoting from the New International Version:
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha,...
- 71.1k
1
vote
Meaning of capitalized nouns in a Lord Byron poem
The use of capitals for qualities generally indicates that they are being treated as high-level abstractions, to the point of being Platonic archetypes. That is, you can speak of a rose's beauty, or ...
- 5,957
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