Symbolism in English Literature

 

INTRODUCTION:    

“To name is to destroy

   To suggest is to create.”

The above lines precisely suggest the function of symbols in literature. In symbolist literature, meanings are suggested indirectly, not named directly.

Literature is read for the sake of entertainment, knowledge and social and moral betterment. A good work of art is one in which the artist delights and conveys ethical messages in an indirect manner. To convey his vision of life, his philosophy of life, his thoughts and ideas, the artist can use four mediums of expression – Verbal (speech), Structural (language), Gestures and Symbols. Simple thoughts and ideas are expressed in a direct method using simple language. But when the author wants to express some complex and philosophical thoughts or ideas, he uses symbols.

WHY SYMBOLS?

1.   Symbols have the power to express the most complex thoughts.

They can express the things in less number of words and images.

They convey some hidden meanings which are more serious and appealing.

ETYMOLOGY & MEANING OF SYMBOLISM:

The term “symbol” is derived from the Greek language. In Greek, there is a verb “symbolon” which means “mark”, “emblem” or “sign”.

Symbol is an object, animate or inanimate, which represents ot stands for something. For example, ‘the dove’ symbolizes ‘peace’, ‘the lion’ symbolizes ‘strength’ and ‘the rose’ stands for ‘beauty’. Actions and gestures can also be symbolic. For example, ‘a clinched fist’ symbolizes ‘anger’ and ‘raised arms’ stand for ‘surrender’.

In symbolism, the meanings are suggested indirectly. Carlyle rightly said, “In symbolism there concealment, yet revelation.”

SYMBOLISM – A MOVEMENT:

Symbolism as a literary movement developed in France in the 1880s. It gained popularity with the publication of Jean Moreas’ manifesto of ‘Le Figaro’ in 1886. Later it became  more popular in the field of painting and theatre too. It influenced American and European literature in the beginning of the 20^th century. It was a reaction against the movement of realism and naturalism. The followers of symbolism tried to express the subjective or personal experiences and sensations by the condensed use of words which became a movement in the late 19^th century. The poets of the early 20^th century also attempted to express their individual emotional experiences through subtle and suggestive use of symbolized language. Through their condensed sentence structures they tried to express deeper philosophical as well as romantic experiences. W. B. Yeats who is himself a known symbolist of English poetry rightly opines:

“Symbolism gives dumb things voices and bodiless things bodies.”

The authors generally use some tools to use symbols in their works. They use the figures of speech like simile, metaphor and allegory.

MAJOR SYMBOLISTS:

As modernism takes birth from symbolism, we have many modern writers who have used  numerous symbols in their works. Franz Kafka in ‘Metamorphosis’, W. B. Yeats in ‘Byzantium’, Earnest Hemingway in ‘Old Man and the Sea’, T. S. Eliot in ‘The Wasteland’ Emily Bronte in ‘The Wuthering Heights’, Virginia Woolf in ‘To the Lighthouse’.

EXAMPLES OF SYMBOLS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE:

1.   ‘As You Like It’ by William Shakespeare

“All the world’s a stage

And all the men and women merely players”

Here, ‘the world’ is symbolically presented as ‘a stage’ and men and women are presented as the actors performing their respective roles.

2.   “A Rainbow’ by William Wordsworth

“My heart leaps up when I behold

A beautiful rainbow in the sky.”

Here, the poet uses ‘rainbow’ as a symbol of hope and general ell being throughout his life.

CONCLUSION:

In short, we may say that symbols have been used in literature since time immemorial. They existed in ancient Greek and Roman poetry, they were used in English literature by the poets like Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Donne etc during the 16^th and 17^th centuries. But symbolism as a movement started in the 1890s in the field of painting and theatre and it became widely popular in the beginning of the 20^th century in English literature.

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