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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
Chapter 1: A Gathering
Explanation and Analysis—Three Monks:
In Chapter 1 at the party at Captain Tiago's house, Rizal introduces Fray Dámaso, the arrogant priest who will be Ibarra's rival for the remainder of the novel. When describing him, the narrator makes an allusion to Heinrich Heine:
In contrast, the other was a Franciscan who spoke a great deal and gesticulated even more. Though his hair was beginning to gray, his constitution seemed to have remained robust. Regular features, a disquieting mien, a square jaw, and a Herculean frame made him look like a Roman patrician in disguise. We are reminded unfortunately of one of the three monks in Heine's The Gods in Exile who crossed a Tyrolean lake at midnight on the day of the autumnal equinox, each time leaving an ice-cold silver coin in the terrified boatsman's hand.
Chapter 3: Dinner
Explanation and Analysis—Cedant Arma Cottae:
At the dinner party which continues into Chapter 3, Fathers Sibyla and Dámaso bicker with one another, both attempting to woo the visiting lieutenant. They are both also silently fighting over who can sit at the head of the table; after some time, Father Sibyla decides he will be a cultured person and offers the head of the table to the lieutenant. This is in fact rather condescending to the lieutenant, as the narrator explains using an allusion to Cicero:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Father Sibyla, ignoring these protests, had already begun to sit down when his eyes met those of the lieutenant. The highest ranking officer is somewhat lower on the social scale than the lay brother who prepares meals at the parish house. Cedant arma togae, said Cicero in the Senate; cedant arma cottae, say the friars in the Philippines.
Related Themes:
Chapter 6: Captain Tiago
Explanation and Analysis—I Just Don't Trust Him:
Rizal devotes Chapter 6 to describing Captain Tiago, a wealthy man from San Diego who is profoundly religious. He has his own brand of polytheism in which he prays to a number of gods and saints from different traditions across the world. He remains, though, well-respected by the church in San Diego because of his consistent financial patronage. He has many religious artifacts and relics, including a kris—a type of dagger made on the island of Java in Indonesia—that supposedly belonged to the archangel Michael. But with the narrator's characteristic irony, Rizal describes how Tiago avoids this relic:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Captain Tiago, on the outside a prudent, religious man, avoided getting close to Saint Michael's kris. "Just in case," he said to himself, "I know he's an archangel, but I don't trust him, I just don't trust him."
Chapter 30: In The Church
Explanation and Analysis—Sleeping Putê:
Sister Putê, "one of the old women dressed in twill," attends the grand final sermon of the fiesta with her six-year-old granddaughter in Chapter 30. The sermon starts off rather boring, and at the end of a long and busy week of festival, Putê falls asleep. But, once the congregation stops singing hymns, Putê snaps awake, and the first thing she does is discipline her granddaughter. Rizal describes this by making allusions to two literary figures:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The transition from noise to quiet awakened our old woman, Sister Putê, who, thanks to the music, had been snoring. Like Sigmund, or like the cook from the Dornröschen story, the first thing she did upon awakening was to slap her granddaughter, who had also been asleep. The girl squealed, but was quickly distracted by the sight of a woman beating her chest with great concentration and zeal.
Related Themes:
Chapter 40: Right and Might
Explanation and Analysis—Eyes Like These:
There is a large theatrical performance in San Diego in Chapter 40, attended by many in the town. While everyone else watches the show, Salví stares at María Clara. The narrator describes how Salví morosely stares at his love, and the appearance of his face is described using imagery:
Unlock with LitCharts A+They were all eyes and ears, except Father Salví. He seemed to have come only to look at María Clara, whose melancholy gave her beauty such an ideal and interesting tone that one had to view it with enchantment. But the Franciscan's eyes, sunk deep in their sockets, did not say enchantment. In the somber expression one read something desperately sad. With eyes like these, from so far away, Cain would contemplate Paradise, while his mother described its delights.
Related Themes:
Chapter 60: María Clara Weds
Explanation and Analysis—Paris, the Trojan:
In Chapter 60, before María Clara's planned marriage to Linares, Captain Tiago discusses plans for the wedding with his family. The narrator noted, just before the passage below, that Tiago's family friends are split into two groups. One of these groups "saw the hand of God, guided by the Virgin of the Rosary," indicating that some in the family believe that María Clara should devote her life to the Virgin Mary and enter into the convent. But there is another family friend, a Chinese man who "fancied himself a prophet, a doctor, and other such things." The man read Maria's mother's palm in the sixth month of her pregnancy and concluded instead that she would be "pretty" and was thus destined to marry. Tiago does not know how to decide between these two competing groups, which the narrator describes using an allusion to Greek myth:
Unlock with LitCharts A+So Captain Tiago, a prudent and fearful man, could not come to a decision as easily as had Paris, the Trojan. He could not give preference to one of the two virgins, for fear of offending the other, which might be accompanied by serious consequences. "Prudence!" he would say to himself.
