Allegory and Symbolism designate methods of representation in art. Both characteristically aim to represent concretely something that is abstract or for some other reason not directly representable.
Allegory is applied to a form of representation found not only in literature but also in painting and sculpture. It evokes a dual interest, one in the story, scene, or characters presented and the other in the ideas they convey or the significance they bear; it demands not only aesthetic enjoyment but intellectual interpretation.
The incidents, scenes, or characters may be historical or fictitious or fabulous, but if the artist has given to the historical an added meaning or has invented his material to convey an idea or truth, he has employed allegory.
Symbolism is applied to a form of representation used not only in literature, painting, and sculpture but also in music, architecture, ceremonial, and pageantry. It implies an attempt to represent what by its very nature is incapable of direct representation because it is immaterial, ideal, or spiritual.
Originally symbolism denoted representation by an accepted sign or symbol (see SYMBOL 1); in painting and sculpture the divinity of Jesus was represented by a nimbus enclosing a cross and sainthood by a simple nimbus usually enclosing rays.
In modern use symbolism also implies artistic imitation and invention as a means of suggesting not only something that eludes representation because of its nature but also something of which the literal representation is taboo (as by reason of defiance of the generally accepted moral code).
Thus, a poet employs symbolism when his images, his rhythms, or his words evoke ideas or emotions that escape analysis; a painter employs symbolism when he uses arrangements of colors and of lines not to represent definite objects but to suggest something that is impalpable or intangible; a novelist or dramatist employs symbolism when his novel or play carries more than its surface meaning or offers hints of an underlying significance.
Especially in literature symbolism is not always clearly distinguishable from allegory. The latter term, however, implies organization and a pattern in which the characters, incidents, and setting serve as symbols.