Old English Poetry, Mediaeval Exegesis and Modern Criticism.

The medieval theory of levels of meaning (literal, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical) is paralleled in modern critical theory and practice, but the parallels are largely unrecognized and undescribed. By juxtaposing in a detailed way Frye's "Ethical Criticism: Theory of Symbols" with the medieval theory it is possible to see more clearly the similarities, at times surprisingly fundamental, between medieval and modern theories and …