1. Allegory, Rhetoric and Theory
Allegory is a Mount Everest for critics. It drives some to renounce theory and descend to particulars, while inspiring others to new heights. Northrop Frye's work on allegory "obstinately adhered to a much larger theoretical structure" (vii), and so became Anatomy of Criticism. Allegory was the paradigmatic figure for the semiological theory of rhetoric Paul de Man envisioned for deconstruction. I suggest we can assess aspiring frameworks by how ...