Allusion
Identifying classical, historical,
and literary allusions in context.
What is it?
• An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a
reference to, or representation of, people,
places, events, literary work, myths, or works of
art, either directly or by implication. M. H.
Abrams defined allusion as "a brief reference,
explicit or indirect, to a person, place or event, or
to another literary work or passage".1 It is left to
the reader or hearer to make the connection
(Fowler); where the connection is detailed in
depth by the author, it is preferable to call it "a
reference".
In other words
• When you are reading and the author talks
about or mentions something from another
story or history, etc.
• We didn't Start the Fire by Bill Joel
• cartoons with allusion
• allusions in poetry
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• In keeping with the ancient Mediterranean
setting, the characters allude often to gods
and other personages in Greek and
Roman myth and legend.
Among those alluded to are the
following:
•
Diana (1. 1. 94): Roman name of Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt.
Cupid (1. 1. 175): Roman name for the Greek god of love, Eros, who shot arrows at humans to
wound them with love.
Venus (1. 1. 177): Roman name for the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. She was the mother of
Cupid.
Dido (1. 1. 179): Dido is not referred to by name but by the designation Carthage queen, meaning
she was the queen of the North African country of Carthage. She appears in Virgil’s great epic
poem, The Aeneid. Dido falls desperately in love with The Aeneid’s main character, Aeneas, after
he stops in Carthage on his way from Troy to Italy. But after he abandons her, she kills herself by
falling on a sword. At sea on his ship, Aeneas can see Carthage glowing with the flames of Dido’s
funeral pyre.
Aeneas (1. 1. 180): See Dido, above.
Ariadne (2. 1. 84): Daughter of King Minos of Crete. She gave Theseus a thread that enabled him
to find his way out of the labyrinth, a maze constructed to house the Minotaur, a creature with the
head of a bull and the body of a man.
Neptune (2. 1. 131): Roman name of Poseidon, god of the sea.
Apollo and Daphne (2. 1. 239): Apollo—god of poetry, music, medicine, and the sun—pursued the
nymph Daphne, daughter of a river god. After she prayed for a way to escape Apollo, her father
changed her into a laurel tree. Apollo later used the leaves of the laurel in wreaths with which
victors of various contests were crowned.
Hercules (4. 1.98): Greek demigod known for his feats of strength.
Cadmus (4. 1.98): Son of the king of Phoenicia and founder of the Greek city of Thebes.
Jove (5. 1. 181): One of two Roman names for Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods. The other
Roman name is Jupiter.
Hermia Alludes
• .......Following is an example of a passage, spoken by Hermia,
alluding to personages of myth and legend. The allusions are to
Cupid (second line), Venus (fourth line), Dido (sixth line, referred to
as Carthage queen), and Aeneas (seventh line, referred to as
Troyan). My good Lysander!
I swear to thee, by Cupid’s strongest bow [see Cupid, above],
By his best arrow with the golden head,
By the simplicity of Venus’ [see Venus, above] doves,
By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves,
And by that fire which burn’d the Carthage queen [see Dido, above],
When the false Troyan [false Trojan, Aeneas] under sail was seen,
By all the vows that ever men have broke,
In number more than ever women spoke,
In that same place thou hast appointed me,
To-morrow truly will I meet with thee. (1. 1. 174-184)