"Allegory" comes from the Greek word "allegoria," which means "speaking otherwise." Allegory is not a genre but a way of interpreting or understanding a story. When a story or narrative is described as an allegory, it is understood that the characters, setting and other elements have both a literal and a symbolic meaning. For example, characters in allegory aren't usually depicted as people with individual personalities but as symbols of abstract concepts such as morality. Many genres of literature have been used for allegory, including poetry, parables, fables and plays.
Readers are sometimes confused about the difference between symbolism and allegory. Symbolism is using a character, place or thing as a symbol, or object, that represents something else. For example, in the United States, a red and white octagon is a symbol that tells drivers they should come to a stop. Authors often use characters, settings and objects in their stories as symbols of general ideas. Symbols can function independently of each other as long as the reader understands their meanings. However, the objects and characters in an allegory are all symbols. They work together to give the entire narrative a symbolic meaning.
Writers have been creating allegories for centuries. The 15th century medieval morality play "Everyman" depicts the death of Everyman and features characters such as Fellowship and Good Deeds. The 16th century English poet Edmund Spenser use his chivalric romance "The Faerie Queene" as a commentary on English behavior. The 17th century novel "The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan is an allegory for Christian salvation that follows a character named Christian as he travels from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. George Orwell's 1945 novel "Animal Farm" is a modern allegory where the farm represents a modern nation-state and the pigs that inhabit it take the part of communist revolutionaries.
Jews and Christians have frequently treated biblical passages as allegory. For example, the Old Testament "Song of Songs," also called the "Song of Solomon," consists of several love songs describing the relationship between King Solomon and one of his lovers. However, Jews sometimes read "Song of Solomon" as an allegory for God's relationship with Israel while Christians often consider it an allegory for God's relationship with the Church or the individual. In Galatians, the Apostle Paul gives the Genesis story of Abraham's sons Isaac and Ishmael an allegorical interpretation. In Paul's interpretation, Isaac, whose mother is a free woman, represents Christians who freed from the Law, while Ishmael, whose mother is a slave, represents Jews who are still bound by the Law.