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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 7
Explanation and Analysis—A Sad-Eyed Napoleon :
In Chapter 7, Edna and Madame Ratignolle walk to the beach and have an intimate conversation. Edna makes an allusion while she ruminates on her childhood:
[Edna] remembered that she had been passionately enamored of a dignified and sad-eyed cavalry officer who visited her father in Kentucky. She could not leave his presence when he was there, nor remove her eyes from his face, which was something like Napoleon's, with a lock of black hair falling across the forehead.
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Chapter 17
Explanation and Analysis—Ralph Waldo Emerson :
In Chapter 23, the novel makes an allusion to Ralph Waldo Emerson. On the first night Edna is alone in the Pontellier home, she:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[...] sat in the library after dinner and read Emerson until she grew sleepy.
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Chapter 21
Explanation and Analysis—Chopin's Impromptu:
Music is an important motif in The Awakening, and the novel makes multiple allusions to the work of Polish composer and pianist Frédéric Chopin. In Chapter 21, during a house visit to Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna learns Robert has sent Mademoiselle Reisz a letter from Mexico. Mademoiselle Reisz refuses to give her the letter. Edna then asks her to play “The Impromptu":
Unlock with LitCharts A+Mademoiselle played a soft interlude [...] gradually and imperceptibly the interlude melted into the soft opening minor chords of the Chopin Impromptu.
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Chapter 30
Explanation and Analysis—A Graven Image:
During Edna’s glamorous party, Mr. Gouvernail looks at Victor Lebrun, transformed by a garland of roses and Mrs Highcamp’s silken scarf, and makes an allusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“'There was a graven image of Desire
Painted with red blood on a ground of gold.'"
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Chapter 39
Explanation and Analysis—Venus Rising:
In Chapter 39, Victor tells Mariequita about Edna’s party, exaggerating many details. When he describes Edna, he makes an allusion to the Roman goddess Venus:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Venus rising from the foam could have presented no more entrancing a spectacle than Mrs Pointellier, blazing with beauty and diamonds at the head of the board, while the other women were all of them youthful houris, possessed of incomparable charms.
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