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.