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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 1
Explanation and Analysis—Iago as Devil:
In the very first scene of the play, when Iago is complaining to Roderigo about being slighted by Othello, Shakespeare makes an allusion to the Bible which sets up Iago as the play’s clear villain. Explaining how he will “follow him [Othello] to serve my turn upon him," Iago says:
“I am not what I am”
Related Themes:
Act 1, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—The Odyssey :
When Othello is defending his and Desdemona’s love to the Senate, he uses an allusion to the Odyssey to help make his point. Asked whether Desdemona married him by “forced courses” or “by request," Othello describes how he gained Desdemona’s affections through his stories:
Unlock with LitCharts A+It was my hint to speak—such was my process—
And of the cannibals that each other eat,
The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders. These things to hear
Would Desdemona seriously incline.
Related Themes:
Act 3, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Hero and Leander:
When describing his desire for vengeance for Desdemona’s infidelity, Othello makes an allusion to the Greek myth of Hero and Leander. After Iago suggests he may change his mind, Othello replies:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Never, Iago. Like to the Pontic Sea,
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Ne’er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on
To the Propontic and the Hellespont,
Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace
Shall ne’er look back, ne’er ebb to humble love,
Till that a capable and wide revenge
Swallow them up.
Related Themes:
