In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet thinks his father was murdered by his uncle Claudius. Hamlet stages a drama similar to the murder in order to gauge his uncle's reaction. "The plays the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." Claudius does indeed recognize himself in the drama, and storms out of the theater.

Henrik Ibsen is regarded as the Shakespeare of Norway, but he wasn't well receive by the people of his time. He wrote everyday plays--not about kings and queens, or Romeos and Juliets, long ago in a galaxy far, far away--but about you and your spouse, duking it out verbally for all the neighbors to see and hear. It was a bit too much to handle.

All the world's a stage, but most people don't like seeing their dirty laundry spread from one end to the other. That's why writers use metaphor and euphemism. Planet of the Apes isn't about monkey aliens. The Rush song "The Trees," isn't about trees.