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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
Allusions
Explanation and Analysis—Tender is the Night:
Tender is the Night borrows its title from Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale," making the title itself an allusion to Keats's poem. In fact, Fitzgerald includes an excerpt from "Ode to a Nightingale" as an epigraph to the novel:
Already with thee! tender is the night...
... But here there is no light,
Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown
Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.
Related Themes:
Book 2, Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Shell-Shock:
After a convoluted dream about war, Dick journals about the dream and ironically diagnoses himself:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He turned on his bed-lamp light and made a thorough note of it ending with the half-ironic phrase: “Non-combatant’s shell-shock.”
Related Themes:
