A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Class 6: Symbolism (Act 1)

Literary Device: Symbolism

A symbol, in the broadest sense, is anything that stands for something else. You encounter and use symbols all the time, though you may not know it. For example, if someone refers to the “red, white, and blue,” you know he or she means the American flag. Or you may have heard a cowardly person referred to as “yellow."

In literature, the term “symbolism” goes a bit deeper. A literary symbol is applied “only to a word or phrase that signifies an object beyond itself.” [superscript 1]

[set as note] Abrams, M. H. 1999. A...

[The entire page is 650 words long]

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