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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
Key Examples in The Blithedale Romance
Chapter 1: Old Moodie
Explanation and Analysis—Greek Mythology:
The Blithedale Romance contains many allusions to Greek mythology that ground a new story in old myths and draw parallels between the old and new worlds. In Chapter 1, Coverdale draws a comparison between The Veiled Lady and a Sibyl (a woman gifted with prophecy in Greek and Roman mythology):
I had propounded, for the Veiled Lady’s prophetic solution, a query as to the success of our Blithedale enterprise. The response, by-the-by, was of the true Sibylline stamp, nonsensical in its first aspect, yet, on closer study, unfolding a variety of interpretations, one of which has certainly accorded with the event.
Related Themes:
Chapter 3: A Knot of Dreamers
Explanation and Analysis—Greek Mythology:
The Blithedale Romance contains many allusions to Greek mythology that ground a new story in old myths and draw parallels between the old and new worlds. In Chapter 1, Coverdale draws a comparison between The Veiled Lady and a Sibyl (a woman gifted with prophecy in Greek and Roman mythology):
Unlock with LitCharts A+I had propounded, for the Veiled Lady’s prophetic solution, a query as to the success of our Blithedale enterprise. The response, by-the-by, was of the true Sibylline stamp, nonsensical in its first aspect, yet, on closer study, unfolding a variety of interpretations, one of which has certainly accorded with the event.
Related Themes:
Chapter 5: Until Bedtime
Explanation and Analysis—Utopia :
The Blithedale Romance contains a few subtle allusions to Thomas More's Utopia. First published in 1516, this work of political philosophy describes an ideal world in which everyone lives and works in perfect harmony. However, the work reveals itself to be a coded satire that mocks the ultimate inability of humankind to live and work as one. The idea of utopia appears in Chapter 5 of The Blithedale Romance when the characters make a list of potential titles for their communal project:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Zenobia suggested ‘Sunny Glimpse,’ as expressive of a vista into a better system of society. This we turned over and over, for awhile, acknowledging its prettiness, but concluded it to be rather too fine and sentimental a name (a fault inevitable by literary ladies, in such attempts) for sun-burnt men to work under. I ventured to whisper ‘Utopia,’ which, however, was unanimously scouted down, and the proposer very harshly maltreated, as if he had intended a latent satire.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—A Nail in Sisera's Brain:
The Blithedale Romance contains a key allusion to the Biblical story of Sisera. Throughout this story, Sisera becomes an increasingly oppressive leader who uses violence to control the people of Israel. The Book of Judges chronicles his crushing taxation and enslavement of thousands of people with military enforcement. In Judges 4:21, after Sisera seeks shelter in a woman's tent after suffering a defeat by the Israelites, the woman (Jael) drives a nail into the sleeping Sisera's head. Coverdale references the "nail in Sisera's brain" in Chapter 5:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The night proved a feverish one. During the greater part of it, I was in that vilest of states when a fixed idea remains in the mind, like the nail in Sisera’s brain, while innumerable other ideas go and come, and flutter to-and-fro, combining constant transition with intolerable sameness.
Related Themes:
