--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: However, I have also argued for…" description: "\"“However, I have also argued for allegory’s positive effects. It is a process that typically takes control away from the author of a narrative and give..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/helen-morales-36054_books_however-i-have-also-argued-for-allegory_639999.jpg" --- # However, I have also argued for allegory’s positive… ![“However, I have also argued for allegory’s positive effects. It is a process that typically takes control away from the author of a narrative and gives it to the reader. It is the reader who decides whether to interpret writing on a literal or a symbolic level. In giving greater control to the…” quote by Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/helen-morales-36054_books_however-i-have-also-argued-for-allegory_639999.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/helen-morales-36054_books_however-i-have-also-argued-for-allegory_639999.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/helen-morales-36054_books_however-i-have-also-argued-for-allegory_639999.jpg) > ““However, I have also argued for allegory’s positive effects. It is a process that typically takes control away from the author of a narrative and gives it to the reader. It is the reader who decides whether to interpret writing on a literal or a symbolic level. In giving greater control to the reader, allegory allows for imaginative and reflective analyses of mythology, and for its ideological purposes to be criticized, as well as affirmed.”” [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Allegory shifts interpretive power to readers, enabling symbolic analysis and critique of myths and ideologies. **In simple terms:** Readers control meaning in allegory. Key Takeaway Use allegory to explore deeper meanings. Themes interpretation power mythology Mood analytical critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - literary criticism - educational curricula - media analysis - cultural studies Key Concepts reader agency symbolic analysis critical theory Questions to Reflect On - What does your own perspective reveal about a story? - How can we balance author intent with reader freedom? A Different Perspective Allegory may obscure authorial intent, leading to misinterpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Allegory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegory/) [Allegory Allows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegory-allows-5140327/) [Allegory Positive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegory-positive-5140325/) [Argued Allegory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argued-allegory-5140328/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Reader Allegory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reader-allegory-5140326/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Science fiction is a weird category, because it's the only area of fiction I can think of where the story is not of primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/science-fiction-is-a-weird-category-because-it-s-the-only-area-of/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [Not taking the Bible (or other texts based on 'revealed truths') literally leaves it up to the reader to cherry-pick elements for belief. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tayler/not-taking-the-bible-or-other-texts-based-on-revealed-truths/) [Jeffrey Tayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tayler/) > [“On this material plane, each living being is like a street lantern lamp with a dirty lampshade. The inside flame burns evenly and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/on-this-material-plane-each-living-being-is-like-a-street-lantern/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [“This philistinism of interpretation is more rife in literature than in any other art. For decades now, literary critics have understood it to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/this-philistinism-of-interpretation-is-more-rife-in-literature-than/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“The Durhannians' countenance lifted as is the way of Hope. There was a village elder whose eyes flickered with the light of Understanding. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-green-westlake/the-durhannians-countenance-lifted-as-is-the-way-of-hope-there-was-a/) [Laurie Green Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-green-westlake/) > [It is remarkable how a man cannot summarize his thoughts in even the most general sort of way without betraying himself completely, without putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/it-is-remarkable-how-a-man-cannot-summarize-his-thoughts-in-even-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“Hence all original religions are allegorical, or susceptible of allegory, and, like Janus, have a double face of false and true”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/hence-all-original-religions-are-allegorical-or-susceptible-of/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [I don't feel I have to struggle against allegory. I let the readers do the interpreting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-don-t-feel-i-have-to-struggle-against-allegory-i-let-the-readers-do/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [By a symbol I do not mean an allegory or a sign, but an image that describes in the best possible way the dimly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/by-a-symbol-i-do-not-mean-an-allegory-or-a-sign-but-an-image-that/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The fumes of the most disordered imaginations were recorded in their religious code, as special communications of the Deity; and as it could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-fumes-of-the-most-disordered-imaginations-were-recorded-in-their/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“However, as a guarantee of its renewed youth, the symbolical phoenix never reappeared before the eyes of the world without having consumed solemnly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/however-as-a-guarantee-of-its-renewed-youth-the-symbolical-phoenix/) [Éliphas Lévi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/) > [A fairytale is not an allegory. There may be allegory in it, but it is not an allegory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/a-fairytale-is-not-an-allegory-there-may-be-allegory-in-it-but-it-is/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/allegories-are-in-the-realm-of-thought-what-ruins-are-in-the-realm-of/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [I think cinema is closer to allegories than to reality. It's closer to our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-think-cinema-is-closer-to-allegories-than-to-reality-it-s-closer-to/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [We each create a story - a narritive, a picture, an allegory, a model - for what's going on in the universe. And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/we-each-create-a-story-a-narritive-a-picture-an-allegory-a-model-for/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) ## More by Helen Morales > [“If ‘myth’ is a slippery term, so is ‘classical’. It is common shorthand for ‘ancient Greek and Roman’. But this shorthand has a history,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/if-myth-is-a-slippery-term-so-is-classical-it-is-common-shorthand-for/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) > [“Reading myth as crystallizing historical fact was a common approach in the 19th and early 20th centuries. But it is an approach to myth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/reading-myth-as-crystallizing-historical-fact-was-a-common-approach/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) > [“What makes someone mythic is not whether or not he lived, or lived well, but whether or not he was larger than life. Mythic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/what-makes-someone-mythic-is-not-whether-or-not-he-lived-or-lived/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) > [“Classical mythology has been so influential upon Western culture that everyone who is alive to the art,culture,politics, and languages of today encounters it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/classical-mythology-has-been-so-influential-upon-western-culture-that/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) > [“Scholars have produced as many definitions of myth as there are myths themselves. This book will discuss various definitions of myth as it goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/scholars-have-produced-as-many-definitions-of-myth-as-there-are-myths/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) > [“This book aims to capture, and explore, the outrageousness, inventiveness, and sheer fun that characterize classical mythology. But it is also born of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/this-book-aims-to-capture-and-explore-the-outrageousness/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) > [“Ancient astrology, and, to some degree, its modern descendant, are compelling mixtures of science (or pseudo-science) and classical myth. Jung interpreted astrology as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/ancient-astrology-and-to-some-degree-its-modern-descendant-are/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) > [“Responding to myth often means wearing blinkers. Myth is a complex game of production and reception that involves selecting some parts of a narrative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/responding-to-myth-often-means-wearing-blinkers-myth-is-a-complex/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) > [“Ancient astrology was rather different from the modern horoscope. Its more learned practitioners enjoyed intellectual respectability, and there was a substantial overlap between astrology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/ancient-astrology-was-rather-different-from-the-modern-horoscope-its/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) > [“It was important for a Roman of this period to get his Greek mythology right. Being able to identify who was who and what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/it-was-important-for-a-roman-of-this-period-to-get-his-greek/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) > [“New Age spirituality purports to promote change – its mantra is ‘transformation’ – but, in reality, it endorses the status quo. It preaches changing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/new-age-spirituality-purports-to-promote-change-its-mantra-is/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) > [“Psychoanalysis and Greek mythology are two sides of the same medallion. To put it differently: without classical mythology, there would be no psychoanalysis. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-morales/psychoanalysis-and-greek-mythology-are-two-sides-of-the-same/) [Helen Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) [Explore all 13 Helen Morales quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-morales/) ## More Allegory quotes > [Science fiction is a weird category, because it's the only area of fiction I can think of where the story is not of primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/science-fiction-is-a-weird-category-because-it-s-the-only-area-of/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [I think cinema is closer to allegories than to reality. It's closer to our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-think-cinema-is-closer-to-allegories-than-to-reality-it-s-closer-to/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/allegories-are-in-the-realm-of-thought-what-ruins-are-in-the-realm-of/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [A fairytale is not an allegory. There may be allegory in it, but it is not an allegory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/a-fairytale-is-not-an-allegory-there-may-be-allegory-in-it-but-it-is/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [“However, as a guarantee of its renewed youth, the symbolical phoenix never reappeared before the eyes of the world without having consumed solemnly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/however-as-a-guarantee-of-its-renewed-youth-the-symbolical-phoenix/) [Éliphas Lévi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/) > [The fumes of the most disordered imaginations were recorded in their religious code, as special communications of the Deity; and as it could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-fumes-of-the-most-disordered-imaginations-were-recorded-in-their/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [By a symbol I do not mean an allegory or a sign, but an image that describes in the best possible way the dimly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/by-a-symbol-i-do-not-mean-an-allegory-or-a-sign-but-an-image-that/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [I don't feel I have to struggle against allegory. I let the readers do the interpreting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-don-t-feel-i-have-to-struggle-against-allegory-i-let-the-readers-do/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“Hence all original religions are allegorical, or susceptible of allegory, and, like Janus, have a double face of false and true”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/hence-all-original-religions-are-allegorical-or-susceptible-of/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [It is remarkable how a man cannot summarize his thoughts in even the most general sort of way without betraying himself completely, without putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/it-is-remarkable-how-a-man-cannot-summarize-his-thoughts-in-even-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“The Durhannians' countenance lifted as is the way of Hope. There was a village elder whose eyes flickered with the light of Understanding. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-green-westlake/the-durhannians-countenance-lifted-as-is-the-way-of-hope-there-was-a/) [Laurie Green Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-green-westlake/) > [“This philistinism of interpretation is more rife in literature than in any other art. For decades now, literary critics have understood it to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/this-philistinism-of-interpretation-is-more-rife-in-literature-than/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“On this material plane, each living being is like a street lantern lamp with a dirty lampshade. The inside flame burns evenly and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/on-this-material-plane-each-living-being-is-like-a-street-lantern/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Not taking the Bible (or other texts based on 'revealed truths') literally leaves it up to the reader to cherry-pick elements for belief. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tayler/not-taking-the-bible-or-other-texts-based-on-revealed-truths/) [Jeffrey Tayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tayler/) > [We each create a story - a narritive, a picture, an allegory, a model - for what's going on in the universe. And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/we-each-create-a-story-a-narritive-a-picture-an-allegory-a-model-for/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) [Browse all 150 Allegory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“However, I have also argued for allegory’s positive effects. It is a process that typically takes control away from the author of a narrative and gives it to the reader. It is the reader who decides whether to interpret writing on a literal or a symbolic level. 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