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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
Act 1, Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Triumph of Venus:
Typically for Wilde, his description of the setting for An Ideal Husband, in Act 1, Part 1, paints a scene of extravagance and beauty anchored by an allusion to an actual work of visual art that foreshadows the central theme of the play:
At the top of the staircase stands Lady Chiltern, a woman of grave Greek beauty, about twenty-seven years of age. She receives the guests as they come up. Over the well of the staircase hangs a great chandelier with wax lights, which illumine a large eighteenth-century French tapestry—representing the Triumph of Love, from a design of Boucher—that is stretched on the staircase well.
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Act 1, Part 3
Explanation and Analysis—The Seven Deadly Virtues:
In Act 1, Part 3, Mrs. Cheveley blackmails Sir Robert Chiltern into supporting the Argentine canal scheme. When Chiltern protests, Cheveley laments what she feels to be a useless preoccupation with morality in London society using simile and an ironic allusion to the seven deadly sins:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Nowadays, with our modern mania for morality, everyone has to pose as a paragon of purity, incorruptibility, and all the other seven deadly virtues—and what is the result? You all go over like ninepins—one after the other. Not a year passes in England without somebody disappearing. Scandals used to lend charm, or at least interest, to a man—now they crush him.
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Act 2, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Blue Book, Yellow Book:
In Act 2, Part 2, Lady Chiltern, Lady Markby, and Mrs. Cheveley make some rambling small talk about society life in London. Their conversation uses color imagery and a set of literary allusions to cast judgement on their spouses:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Lady Chiltern: But I am very much interested in politics, Lady Markby. I love to hear Robert talk about them.
Lady Markby: Well, I hope he is not as devoted to Blue Books as Sir John is. I don’t think they can be quite improving reading for anyone.
Mrs. Cheveley: I have never read a Blue Book. I prefer books ... in yellow covers.
Lady Markby: Yellow is a gayer colour, is it not? I used to wear yellow a good deal in my early days, and would do so now if Sir John was not so painfully personal in his observations, and a man on the question of dress is always ridiculous, is he not?
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Act 3, Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Butler Incarnate:
At the beginning of Act 3, Part 1, Wilde again uses his stage directions as an opportunity to describe his characters and their behavior. In this expository sequence, Wilde uses a combination of allusion, hyperbole, metaphor, and personification to describe Phipps, Lord Goring’s butler:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Phipps, the Butler, is arranging some newspapers on the writing-table. The distinction of Phipps is his impassivity. He has been termed by enthusiasts the Ideal Butler. The Sphinx is not so incommunicable. He is a mask with a manner. Of his intellectual or emotional life, history knows nothing. He represents the dominance of form.
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