How Students Can Better Understand Symbolism in Literature and Art
Getting Started (Hint: Self Portrait with Hummingbird and Thorn Necklace AND Esperanza Rising are featured)
Artists and writers use symbolism in their works to help communicate their messages. In this post, we'll talk about how the use of symbolism in art and literature are similar. We'll explore examples from Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising to Frida Kahlo's Self Portrait with Hummingbird and Thorn Necklace. Keep reading to get a better understanding of how the use of symbolism in literature is like the use of symbolism in art, and how that understanding can be used to help your students better understand these connected concepts.
Artists and writers use symbolism in their works to help communicate their messages
Symbols Can Represent Characters and Character Traits
Some works of art and literature use specific objects to symbolize characters.
For example, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Tybalt uses a sword to symbolize his role as an antagonist. A sword—and in particular Tybalt’s sword—symbolizes violence and rage; later on in the play, Mercutio uses a sword to stab Tybalt to death. In these cases, symbolism represents character traits. When you read or watch a work of art that uses symbols to represent characters, pay attention to how those symbols are used throughout the piece.
Self Portrait with Hummingbird and Thorn Necklace is a painting by Frida Kahlo. Kahlo’s paintings use symbolism to represent her physical injuries and psychological pain, as well as Mexican heritage. In Self Portrait with Hummingbird and Thorn Necklace , she wears a necklace of thorns around her neck. This symbolizes how emotionally hurt she was by those who had mistreated her—including her husband, Diego Rivera. Kahlo was often depressed because of her health problems and unhappy marriage.
The hummingbird also represents something important in Kahlo’s life: freedom. The bird can be seen flying freely through open windows in many of her other works. However, self-portraits such as these reveal that she did have some control over her situation; she could paint what she wanted to express. That freedom gives her work power that it might not otherwise have if all we saw were her physical scars and sadness. In this way, the symbolism empowers her.
We can see that both symbolism in art and symbolism in literature can both deeply describe characters and their traits.
If you want to explore Hummingbird with a Thorn Necklace with students, this Art Game is a simple start. You can put it in your sub tub or use on days when you need a no-prep art lesson. It includes the game sheet, a guide for how to draw the image, template, finished example, and more. You can pair it with a lesson about symbolism in art and a biography on Frida Kahlo to take your lesson to the next level!
Symbols Can Represent Emotions
Esperanza Rising, like most novels, is filled with symbols and imagery. However, one of its most important symbols represents a theme that runs throughout many pieces of literature: hope.
Esperanza begins life in the lap of luxury as an only child of a wealthy Mexican landowner, but when she turns 13, bandits murder her father and set off a cascade of misfortunes. Escaping the clutches of greedy relatives in Mexico, she flees to America with her mother. The story centers on Esperanza's transformation from princess to pauper and how she uses this experience to explore what true wealth is, how important family is, and how to have hope in the future.
Many different things can symbolize hope, such as a bird or sunrise. After the Rancheros de las Rosas, Esperanza, Ramona, and their former servants Hortensia, Alfonso, and Miguel fled for California, Miguel and Alfonso brought with them a mysterious package. Once their group arrived in California, Miguel and Alfonso revealed the gift they had brought along for their women: stems of Sixto's roses, which served as a reminder of the time they had shared while tending the roses at El Rancho de las Rosas. They used the stems to grow new roses outside their cabin in California, and Esperannza found the roses to be a symbol of hope.
Visual artists use symbolism to represent emotions as well.
Looking now at symbolism in art, Norman Rockwell's paintings are filled with symbols of hope for his country during a time of social upheaval. In his works, he creates seemingly ordinary scenes with poignant symbolic meaning and messages about what it means to be an American. In The Four Freedoms, he uses four different characters—an African-American soldier, an immigrant mother and daughter, and a Native American man—to represent several aspects of freedom.
Symbols Can Be Universally Understood
Symbols are powerful because they can be universally understood.
An apple represents knowledge, a pencil represents writing, and a red rose represents love. The symbols that artists use in their work have meaning for them as well as for their audience. Whether you’re looking at visual art or literature, there are many universal symbols: people, animals, buildings, plants. A common symbol used in art is food . Food is frequently used to represent emotions like comfort or joy . Artists may also use foods to create a sense of place by drawing attention to local traditions or by showing how cultural customs vary from one area to another. Either way, symbols transcend verbal language.
Symbols Can Tell a Story
Diego Rivera, a Mexican artist and muralist who was known for his controversial views, painted murals that expressed his political opinions.
One of these murals depicts an eagle holding a snake in its talons. To some people, it symbolizes power over evil. To others, it represents how Mexico came to be ruled by Spaniards after they conquered Aztecs in 1521. No matter what you think it means, Rivera’s use of symbolism in his art has made him one of history’s most influential artists. His works can often tell historical and political stories.
But sometimes, symbols are not obvious. An image might contain multiple meanings at once or hold meaning beyond what you see on first glance. Since Rivera's opinions informed his artwork and use of symbols, he took as much artistic license with the telling of stories as any writer of literature. Often, the symbols he chose have double meanings or they mean one thing to him and something else to others. Such is art!
Most Commonly Used Symbols In Art And Literature
The most commonly used symbols in visual art and literature are some form of color, shape, line, texture or a combination of these elements of art. Though these may seem like general terms at first glance, these are the specific building blocks that artists use to create a composition.
Examples include: tonal contrast (to create dimensionality), scale (to define size), balance (for equilibrium) and perspective (to create depth). All of these elements help artists convey emotions or meaning through their work and we’ll look at examples below. What all of these symbols have in common though is that they can be abstracted and applied in different ways to make for new meanings within an artistic context—which is what makes them so much fun!
Now let’s look at a few examples to see how artists use symbolism in their work to evoke different responses. I’ll start with Christian art because it’s often very easy to identify, given its because of its ubiquitousness in Western culture. For example, Jesus Christ is usually represented as a male who carries a lamb and has long hair, symbolizing him as the savior for mankind. Other symbols like an angel can symbolize someone who leads you towards heaven or encourages you spiritually through faith. A dove may represent peace or purity.
Other common symbols in Christian art include a cross, crown of thorns, or scourging. The cross symbolizes many things to Christians and non-Christians alike but primarily represents Jesus crucifixion. A crown of thorns can symbolize glory because it was given to Jesus before his crucifixion as a sign of triumph and victory. Scourging represents someone being punished for their crimes—Jesus was tortured with whips and other instruments because he upset religious leaders at that time. In modern times, scourging may be used to represent endurance and stamina when overcoming an obstacle in life.
Literature too, uses symbols to create meaning and create an emotional response. Common examples include a ship in poetry or prose. A ship symbolizes life’s journey and how we sail through it with little control over what comes our way (the sea is often compared to life). A ship may also represent hope or adventure, depending on what you know about a given story. In Romeo and Juliet, for example, a ship represents youth and love that can be crushed by life’s hardships; while in Robinson Crusoe, it can symbolize escape from burdensome past of civilized society. Of course there are many more symbols used in literature but these are some of the most commonly seen throughout English literature—these are also just some of my favorite ones!
Takeaways
In conclusion, symbolism creates an additional layer of meaning to a text or work of art by using something that isn’t initally apparent in its context. From allegory to metaphor to irony, symbols are all around us and aren’t hard to find once you know what to look for. They can be invaluable in writing as a way of getting your point across without saying exactly what you mean, keeping things ambiguous and open for interpretation. The same can be said for art.
Symbols are powerful tools that artists and writers use to communicate their messages.
Let me know what you think and how you use symbolism in your classroom! I look forward to hearing from you.