Allusion
Allusion Definition
Allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of
historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe in detail
the person or thing to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and the
writer expects the reader to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion
and grasp its importance in a text.
For instance, you make a literary allusion the moment you say, “I do not
approve of this quixotic idea,” Quixotic means stupid and impractical derived
from Cervantes’s “Don Quixote”, a story of a foolish knight and his
misadventures.
Allusion Examples in Everyday Speech
The use allusions are not confined to literature alone. Their occurrence is
fairly common in our daily speech. Look at some common allusion examples
in everyday life:
“Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.” – “Romeo” is a reference to
Shakespeare’s Romeo, a passionate lover of Juliet, in “Romeo and
Juliet”.
The rise in poverty will unlock the Pandora’s box of crimes. – This is an
allusion to one of Greek Mythology’s origin myth, “Pandora’s box”.
“This place is like a Garden of Eden.” – This is a biblical allusion to the
“garden of God” in the Book of Genesis.
“Hey! Guess who the new Newton of our school is?” – “Newton”, means
a genius student, alludes to a famous scientist Isaac Newton.
“Stop acting like my ex-husband please.” – Apart from scholarly
allusions we refer to common people and places in our speech.
Examples of Allusion in Literature
Let us analyze a few examples of the use of allusions in literature:
Example #1
Milton’s “Paradise Lost” gives allusions a fair share. Look at the example from
Book 6 below:
“All night the dread less Angel unpursu’d
Through Heav’ns wide Champain held his way, till Morn,
Wak’t by the circling Hours, with rosie hand
Unbarr’d the gates of Light. There is a Cave
Within the Mount of God, fast by his Throne”
In the above lines “dread less Angel” is a reference to “Abdiel”, a fearless
angel. “Circling Hours” alludes to a Greek Myth “The Horae”, the daughters of
“Zeus” and “Themis” namely “Thallo (Spring), Auxo (Summer) and Carpo
(Fall). “ With rosie hand” Milton refers to Homer’s illustration of the “rosy
fingered dawn” (Odyssey Book 2).
Example #2
Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus” is replete with instances of allusions. Read the
example from Act III below:
“Learnèd Faustus, to find the secrets of astronomy
Graven in the book of Jove’s high firmament,
Did mount him up to scale Olympus’ top,
Where, sitting in a chariot burning bright,
Drawn by the strength of yokèd dragons’ necks,
He views the clouds, the planets, and the stars.”
Jove’s high firmament refers to the outer stretches of the universe. “Olympus’
top” is an allusion to Greek Mythology where Mount Olympus is home of gods.
Similarly, “a chariot burning bright” refers to a Greek Myth of “god Apollo” who
is said to drive the sun in his chariot.
Example #3
In Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”, “the two knitting women” whom Marlow sees
alludes to “Moirae” or Fates as visualized in Greek Mythology:
“The two knitting women increase his anxiety by gazing at him and all the
other sailors with knowing unconcern. Their eerie looks suggest that they
know what will happen (the men dying), yet don’t care”
The thread they knit represents human life. The two women knitting black
wool foreshadows Marlow’s horrific journey in the “Dark Continent”.
Example #4
We find a number of allusions in Keats’s “Ode to the Grecian Urn”. For
example:
“Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?”
“Sylvan” is a goat-like-man deity of Greek mythology. “Tempe” alludes to the
“Vale of Tempe” in Greece, a place (from Greek mythology) frequently visited
by Apollo and other gods. Likewise, “the dales of Arcady” refers to the home
of “Pan”, the god of rustic music.
Function of Allusion
By and large, the use of allusions enables writers or poets to simplify complex
ideas and emotions. The readers comprehend the complex ideas by
comparing the emotions of the writer or poet to the references given by them.
Furthermore, the references to Greek Mythology give a dreamlike and magical
touch to the works of art. Similarly, biblical allusions appeal to the readers with
religious backgrounds.
Apostrophe
Apostrophe Definition
In literature, apostrophe is a figure of speech sometimes represented by an
exclamation, such as “Oh.” A writer or speaker, using apostrophe, speaks
directly to someone who is not present or is dead, or speaks to an inanimate
object.
It is important not to confuse apostrophe, the literary device, with the
apostrophe punctuation mark (‘). The punctuation mark shows possession, or
marks the omission of one or more letters (contraction). Apostrophe in
literature is an arrangement of words addressing a non-existent person or an
abstract idea in such a way as if it were present and capable of understanding
feelings.
Examples of Apostrophe in Literature
English literature is replete with instances of apostrophe. Let us have a look at
a few examples.
Example #1: Macbeth (By William Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare makes use of apostrophe in his play Macbeth:
“Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand?
Come, let me clutch thee!
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.”
In his mental conflict before murdering King Duncan, Macbeth has a strange
vision of a dagger and talks to it as if it were a person.
Example #2: The Star (By Jane Taylor)
Jane Taylor uses apostrophe in the well-known poem, The Star:
“Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.”
This poem became one of the most popular nursery rhymes told to little
children – often in the form of song. In this nursery rhyme, a child speaks to a
star (an inanimate object). Hence, this is a classic example of apostrophe.
Example #3: Frankenstein (By Mary Shelly)
Look at how Mary Shelly uses apostrophe in her novel Frankenstein:
“Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity
me, crush sensation and memory; let me become as naught; but if not, depart,
depart, and leave me in darkness.”
Talking to stars, clouds, and winds is apostrophe.
Example #4: Death Be Not Proud (By John Donne)
“Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.”
Here, Donne speaks to death, an abstract idea, as if it were a person capable
of comprehending his feelings.
Example #5: The Sun Rising (By John Donne)
John Donne once more uses apostrophe in his poem The Sun Rising:
“Busy old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on
us?
Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch …”
The poet addresses the sun in an informal and colloquial way, as if it were a
real human being. He asks the Sun in a rude way why the Sun appeared and
spoiled the good time he was having with his beloved.
Example #5: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (By James Joyce)
James Joyce uses apostrophe in his novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Man:
“Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of
experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of
my race.”
Being able to talk to something abstract – like life itself – is possible only in
literature.
Example #6: To a Stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years
from Now (By Billy Collins)
In this excerpt, the poet uses conventional apostrophe starting with “O”:
“O stranger of the future!
O inconceivable being!
Whatever the shape of your house,
However you scoot from place to place,
No matter how strange and colorless the clothes you may wear,
I bet nobody likes a wet dog either.
I bet everyone in your pub,
Even the children, pushes her away.”
The speaker is talking to an imaginary character, the “stranger.”
Example #7: Sire (By W. S. Merwin)
Another apostrophe example comes from the poem Sire, written by W. S.
Merwin:
“Forerunner, I would like to say, silent pilot,
Little dry death, future,
Your indirections are as strange to me
As my own. I know so little that anything
You might tell me would be a revelation.”
Function of Apostrophe
By employing apostrophe in their literary works, writers try to bring abstract
ideas or non-existent persons to life, so that the nature of emotions they want
to communicate comes across in a better way. It is more convenient for
readers to relate themselves to abstract emotions when they observe them in
their natural surroundings. In addition, the use of apostrophe motivates
readers to develop a perspective that is fresh, as well as creative.
