The Language of Allegory: Defining the Genre

by Maureen Quilligan

This lively and innovative work treats a body of literature not previously regarded as a unified genre. Offering comparative readings of a number of texts that are traditionally called allegories and that cover a wide time span, Maureen Quilligan formulates a vocabulary for talking about the distinctive generic elements they share. The texts she considers range from the twelfth-century De planctu naturae to Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow , and include such works as Le Roman de la Rose , Langland's Piers Plowman , Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter , Melville's Confidence Man , and Spenser's Faerie Queene . Whether or not readers agree with this book, they will enjoy and profit from it.

Paperback

First published August 1, 1979

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I'm not sure I agree with all of Quilligan's argument, she does posit some interesting ideas about how allegory works, the contexts that allow allegory to flourish, and how readers approach those texts. I'm a big fan of ideas concerning wordplay and the power of language, so there were aspects to her argument I found quite fascinating.