I'm writing an essay (yay) on I'm the King of the Castle, by Susan Hill.
I am trying to explain how the description of the atmosphere may have hidden meanings (e.g. the fact that Warings is a solitary house could show how Kingshaw feels). But I can't think of the word!
So my question is: What is the word used to describe a phrase which has a hidden meaning?
Oh, and also: What is the word for something that represents something else, e.g. a cat chasing a Mouse could represent a bully and a victim. Is it just symbolism? Metaphor?
Best Answer
Allegory
1. a poem, play, picture, etc, in which the apparent meaning of the characters and events is used to symbolize a deeper moral or spiritual meaning 2. the technique or genre that this represents 3. use of such symbolism to illustrate truth or a moral 4. anything used as a symbol or emblem
The literary device is known as a 'Symbolism in literature' or a variant.
The symbolist movement in literature / by Arthur ... . Symons, Arthur, 1865-1945 states:
Symbolism in literature really is: a form of expression, at the best but approximate, essen- tially but arbitrary, until it has obtained the force of a convention, for an unseen reality ap- prehended by the consciousness. It is some- times permitted to us to hope that our conven- Rtion is indeed the reflection rather than merely the sign of that unseen reality.