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Allegory
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 Edward II
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Hero and Leander:
Piers Gaveston, a “favourite” of King Edward II who had previously been exiled by his father, uses both hyperbole and allusion in responding to the news that his banishment from England has been lifted upon Edward’s succession to the throne. Gaveston says:
What greater bliss can hap to Gaveston
Than live and be the favourite of a king?
Sweet prince, I come; these, these thy amorous lines
Might have enforced me to have swum from France,
And like Leander gasped upon the sand,
So thou wouldst smile and take me in thy arms.
Act 1, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Midas and Proteus :
Mortimer uses hyperbole and a number of classical allusions in describing Gaveston’s wasteful and extravagant lifestyle in conversation with his uncle, Mortimer Senior:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Uncle, his wanton humour grieves not me,
But this I scorn, that one so basely born
Should by his sovereign’s favour grow so pert
And riot it with the treasure of the realm.
While soldiers mutiny for want of pay,
He wears a lord’s revenue on his back,
And Midas-like he jets it in the court
With base outlandish cullions at his heels,
Whose proud fantastic liveries make such show
As if that Proteus, god of shapes, appeared.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The King's Favorites:
Mortimer Senior implores the other lords to be more patient with King Edward II. Arguing that the young King’s fixation with Gaveston does not necessarily mean he cannot rule effectively, Mortimer Senior alludes to a list of figures from mythology and history who had their own male “favourites”:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The mightiest kings have had their minions:
Great Alexander loved Hephaestion,
The conquering Hercules for Hylas wept,
And for Patroclus stern Achilles drooped.
And not kings only, but the wisest men:
The Roman Tully loved Octavius,
Grave Socrates, wild Alcibiades.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Jove on Ganymede :
After being dismissed by her husband, King Edward II, in favor of his lover, Piers Gaveston, the Queen expresses her bitter and mournful feelings in a soliloquy. In the course of this soliloquy, she alludes to various figures from classical mythology:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Would when I left sweet France and was embarked,
That charming Circes, walking on the waves,
Had changed my shape, or at the marriage day
The cup of Hymen had been full of poison,
Or with those arms that twined about my neck
I had been stifled and not lived to see
The king my lord thus to abandon me.
Like frantic Juno will I fill the earth
With ghastly murmur of my sighs and cries,
For never doted Jove on Ganymede
So much as he on cursèd Gaveston.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—The Greekish Strumpet :
Lancaster alludes to the mythological figure of Helen of Troy in his condemnation of Piers Gaveston. In Scene 9, Gaveston and the King separate after facing an overwhelming assault from the combined forces of the various rebelling lords, and Gaveston is captured while attempting to flee. The lords are now able to speak with Gaveston without censorship, and they criticize him in harsh terms. Lancaster states:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Monster of men,
That, like the Greekish strumpet, trained to arms
And bloody wars so many valiant knights,
Look for no other fortune, wretch, than death.
Kind Edward is not here to buckler thee.
Related Themes:
