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Symbolism Definition and Examples in Lit

Symbolism has been widely used in literature throughout history to represent complex ideas. Cave paintings and hieroglyphics were early forms of symbolism representing narratives and beliefs. Ancient Greek theater used symbolic props and Renaissance authors represented human desires through symbolism. Famous authors like Shakespeare, Poe, and Blake have used symbolism to convey inner thoughts, dread, and emotion. There are three main types of symbolism in literature - religious symbolism tracing back to early civilizations, romantic symbolism used extensively in poetry, and emotional symbolism employed by symbolist poets and writers to describe metaphysical feelings.

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135 views

Symbolism Definition and Examples in Lit

Symbolism has been widely used in literature throughout history to represent complex ideas. Cave paintings and hieroglyphics were early forms of symbolism representing narratives and beliefs. Ancient Greek theater used symbolic props and Renaissance authors represented human desires through symbolism. Famous authors like Shakespeare, Poe, and Blake have used symbolism to convey inner thoughts, dread, and emotion. There are three main types of symbolism in literature - religious symbolism tracing back to early civilizations, romantic symbolism used extensively in poetry, and emotional symbolism employed by symbolist poets and writers to describe metaphysical feelings.

Uploaded by

Jona Mempin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Writing 101: What Is Symbolism?

Symbolism
Definition and Examples in Literature
 The colors red, white, and blue typically symbolize
patriotism (in America at least), which is why they’re the
favored hues of political yard signs.

 Colors like orange and brown connote fall, which is why


they adorn so many Thanksgiving decorations. Road
signs, logos, and emojis are other examples of symbolism
—the visuals correspond to ideas, companies, or moods
How Has Symbolism Been Used
Throughout History?
In literature, authors have long favored the use of symbols
among a wide range of literary devices

• The earliest recorded forms of human storytelling—cave


paintings and hieroglyphics—are quite literally symbols
representing more complex narratives or beliefs.
• Ancient Greek theater, which is the basis for much of
today’s narrative artforms, used symbolic props including
phallic objects to represent Dionysus, the god of fertility.
Symbolism remained in wide use throughout the Middle
Ages (almost always with religious connotations) and
then, from the Renaissance forward, returned in full force
to represent human desires ranging from lust to ambition
to heartbreak.
• William Shakespeare used symbols to represent inner
conscience (think of blood in Macbeth); Edgar Allen Poe
used it to convey dread and mortality (think of the
eponymous bird in “The Raven”); and William Blake used
religious symbols (including Jesus himself) to represent
human emotion and desire (as in “The Everlasting
Gospel”).
3 Types of Symbolism in Literature
• Religious symbolism. This has been perhaps the most
consistently “acceptable” form of symbolism throughout
literary history, as it’s typically been sanctioned by
religious authorities who have held sway over society for
much of human existence. Religious symbolism traces
back to the earliest human civilizations, but highlights of
literary religious symbolism include Paradise Lost by John
Milton (itself a retelling of the Genesis story); and The
Brothers Karamazov by the Russian author Fyodor
Dostoevsky (among its subtle symbolism is a physical
representation of the Holy Spirit).
• Romantic symbolism. Perhaps second only to religious
symbolism, romantic symbolism has pervaded wide
swaths of world literature. Poetry, from the sonnets of
Shakespeare to the modernist stanzas of Edna St.
Vincent Millay, has been a particularly fertile medium for
romantic symbolism.
• Emotional symbolism. Many authors and poets use
physical symbolism to describe metaphysical emotions.
French language symbolists like Stéphane Mallarmé and
Paul Verlaine are noted for this form of symbolism, as are
English language writers like William Butler Yeats and
Seamus Heaney.

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