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Alliteration
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, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Juno's Swans:
Here, in Act 1, Scene 3, Celia describes her relationship with Rosalind as an extremely close one, alluding to classical myth.
Celia: [...] We still have slept together,
Rose at an instant, learned, played, eat together,
And, wheresoe’er we went, like Juno’s swans
Still we went coupled and inseparable.
Explanation and Analysis—Jove's Page:
In Act 1, Scene 3, before they go into exile together, Celia and Rosalind decide on the names and identities they will assume on the road. Celia will pretend to be a shepherdess, and Rosalind a shepherd. They choose new names, and Rosalind throws out a reference to Greco-Roman myth:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Celia: What shall I call thee when thou art a man?
Rosalind: I’ll have no worse a name than Jove’s own page,
And therefore look you call me Ganymede.
Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—A Sermon of Love:
In Act 3, Scene 2, Celia reads out loud from Orlando’s poem to Rosalind. Replete with mythological and legendary allusions, it features a series of hyperbolic comparisons between Celia and several figures of antiquity:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Nature presently distilled
Helen’s cheek, but not [her] heart,
Cleopatra’s majesty,
Atalanta’s better part,
Sad Lucretia’s modesty.
Thus Rosalind of many parts
By heavenly synod was devised
Of many faces, eyes, and hearts
To have the touches dearest prized.
Heaven would that she these gifts should have
And I to live and die her slave.
Related Themes:
