Previous
Literary Devices
Definition of Allusion
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals, historical events, or philosophical ideas... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to... read full definition
Key Examples in A Streetcar Named Desire
Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Elysian Fields:
The journey Blanche takes to get to Stanley and Stella's apartment when she first arrives in New Orleans is full of allusions to Greek mythology. These allusions create situational irony for the audience, as they imply Blanche is headed for heaven when she certainly isn't. She tells Eunice and the woman sitting outside the Elysian Fields house that:
BLANCHE: They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Ulalume:
In this passage from Scene 1 of the play, Blanche uses an allusion and hyperbole to express her disdain for Stella's dingy New Orleans apartment. After her arduous journey on the streetcars of Now Orleans, when she sees Stella for the first time she exclaims:
Unlock with LitCharts A+BLANCHE: Only Poe! Only Mr. Edgar Allan Poe!—could do it justice! Out there I suppose is the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir!"
Related Themes:
Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Napoleonic Code:
Stanley accuses Blanche of cheating Stella and him out of money from Belle Reve using an allusion. As he quizzes his wife about what happened to the family plantation, he says says angrily to Stella:
Unlock with LitCharts A+STANLEY: In the state of Louisiana we have the Napoleonic code according to which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa [...] It looks to me like you have been swindled, baby, and when you’re swindled under the Napoleonic code I’m swindled too. And I don’t like to be swindled.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Blind Leading:
Throughout the play, Blanche makes a lot of religious references to the Christian values she claims to uphold, including this exclamation as she and Stella stumble out for the evening:
Unlock with LitCharts A+BLANCHE: The blind are leading the blind!
Related Themes:
Scene 10
Explanation and Analysis—Pull the Wool:
Stanley says this series of insults to Blanche in their final confrontation, laying out all he knows about her lies. As he does so, he makes several allusions to Egyptian antiquity and uses a contemporary idiom:
Unlock with LitCharts A+STANLEY: I’ve been on to you from the start! Not once did you pull any wool over this boy’s eyes. You come in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light-bulb with a paper lantern, and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you and the Queen of the Nile!
Related Themes:
