Symbolism in English Literature Essays - 19th-century Theatre

Symbolism in English Literature Symbolism is an artful use of symbols, action, or characters meant to be taken both literally and as representative of some higher, more complex and abstract significance that lies in between ordinary meaning. Generally a symbol is the use of a concrete object to represent an abstract idea. The word ?Symbol? is derived from the Greek verb ?Symballein? which means ?put together? and the related noun ?Symbalon? means ?mark?, ?token? or ?sign?. The term symbol when used in literature is often a figure of speech in which a person, object, or situation represents something in addition to its literal meaning. Conventional or traditional literary symbols work in much the same way, and because they have a previously agreed upon meaning, they can be used to suggest ideas more universal than the physical aspect itself. Writers insert symbols into their writing to allude to a feeling, mood or attitude without directly stating the perspective or mood intended. Symbolism is supplemental to the story. In Joseph Conrad?s story The Lagoon, darkness is a symbol of evil and light a symbol of good. A symbol may be universal or private. Darkness and light are universal symbol of evil and good. Climbing is a universal symbol of progress; descending of failure. The Dove is a universal symbol of peace. In contrast, the great white whale in Herman Melville?s Novel Moby- Dick is a private symbol and a complex one. Many books and articles have been written in an effort to explain it, but like many great private symbols in literature and art, its significance is complex and elusive. Symbolist movement first started in French poetry and art in the late nineteenth century rebelling against realism , especially against literally descriptive poetry , and influenced by the poetic theory of Edgar Allan Poe and the ancient doctrine of correspondences between the physical and the spiritual worlds , the symbolists poets ?Charles Baudelaire ,Stephen Mallarme , Arthur Rimbaud , Paul Verlaine and others wrote richly suggestive and musical free verse that exploited the evocative power of private symbols . William Butler Yeats , T.S Eliot , Dylan Thomas , and James Joyce are among the British and American writers who have been profoundly influenced by the symbolists . Symbolists believed that art should represent absolute truths that could only be described indirectly. Thus, they wrote in a very metaphorical and suggestive manner, endowing particular images or objects with symbolic meaning. Symbols can take meaning to its higher definition that has more clarity and proper to the understanding. Symbols that can add mystery and joy can draw their power from success well beyond the power of direct conscious inspection .That power of revealing mysteries and meanings can make literary works easy and great in quality.