Allegorical Representations of Tudor Princes

The problem of studying various types of allegorical discourses is topical. The current research devoted to allegories as a special device in the literary and pictorial art of sixteenth-century England is concerned with three different types of figurative mode of representation, their cognitive content, and their pragmatic effect. The poets, playwrights, and artists developed iconic representations of the Tudor monarchs by means of three forms of allegories: comparisons, impersonations, and personifications whose public aim was the consolidation of the dynastic power and hermeneutic interpretation of abstract concepts which made up the core of Tudor cosmology. The study provides an integrated approach to the allegorical paradigm as the totality of all means (textual and visual) expressing the same conceptual theme. The analysis has a strictly historical character and is put in the context of contemporary events and prevailing philosophical views. The corpus of literary material is discussed in rhetorical and ideological terms, Keywords: allegorical comparisons, impersonations, personifications, Moon culture.