He received his doctorate in 1971, having written a dissertation on allegorical readings of The Song of Songs under professor G.P. van Itterzon.

The story follows many traditions of Gothic fiction and is often analyzed as an allegory about the inevitability of death, though some critics advise against an allegorical reading.

They agreed, for example, on a literal interpretation to Biblical exegesis, discarding allegorical readings.

Others have proposed a moral allegorical reading, or concluded that Giorgione had no particular subject in mind.

I think you need to pay more attention to the role of Gollum in your allegorical reading.

The Alexandrian Biblical interpretations stressed allegorical readings, frequently at the expense of the texts' literal meaning.

Meanwhile the author himself rejected an allegorical reading of his work.

John Calvin was not impressed by Origen's allegorical reading:

Defoe's Robinson Crusoe did not use the twilight to spread political insinuations; the hardly credible account did, however, offer the alternative of a deeper allegorical reading.

In the allegorical reading, the dragon embodies a suppressed pagan cult.