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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
Book 1, Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—The History of the Devil:
Near the beginning of the novel, Mr. Tulliver’s sophisticated friend Mr. Riley finds Maggie reading “The History of the Devil” and judges her for it, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Mr Tulliver had listened to this exposition of Maggie’s with petrifying wonder. “Why, what book is it the wench has got hold on?” he burst out, at last.
“‘The History of the Devil,’ by Daniel Defoe; not quite the right book for a little girl,” said Mr Riley.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Pilgrim's Progress:
At a few points in the novel, the characters mention Pilgrim’s Progress, an allusion to a well-known 1678 allegorical novel by John Bunyan that follows a Christian’s spiritual journey toward heaven. In the following passage near the beginning of the novel, a young Maggie talks to Mr. Riley about the book:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Maggie ran in an instant to the corner of the room, jumped on a chair, and reached down from the small bookcase a shabby old copy of Bunyan, which opened at once, without the least trouble of search, at the picture she wanted.
“Here he is,” she said, running back to Mr Riley, “and Tom coloured him for me with his paints when he was at home last holidays — the body all black, you know, and the eyes red, like fire, because he’s all fire inside, and it shines out at his eyes.”
“Go, go!” said Mr Tulliver […] “shut up the book, and let’s hear no more o’ such talk. It is as I thought — the child ’ull learn more mischief nor good wi’ the books. Go, go and see after your mother.”
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Prodigal Daughter:
In an example of both foreshadowing and allusion, near the beginning of the novel, when Maggie is visiting Luke (the head miller at the Dorlcote Mill) and his wife, she notices a painting of the prodigal son:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Maggie actually forgot that she had any special cause of sadness this morning, as she stood on a chair to look at a remarkable series of pictures representing the Prodigal Son […] “I’m very glad his father took him back again — aren’t you, Luke?” she said. “For he was very sorry, you know, and wouldn’t do wrong again.”
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Medusa:
In a scene near the beginning of the novel—when Maggie and Tom are children—Tom pays more attention to their cousin Lucy, while Maggie (who has just cut off all her hair) feels angry and jealous. In this moment, the narrator combines a metaphor with an allusion, comparing Maggie to Medusa:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Here, Lucy, you come along with me,” [Tom said] and walked off to the area where the toads were, as if there were no Maggie in existence. Seeing this, Maggie lingered at a distance, looking like a small Medusa with her snakes cropped.
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Romani People:
In the first book of the novel, several characters compare Maggie to a “gypsy” because of her long, dark hair, and she eventually runs away to live with the “gypsies” (only to be returned home later that evening). These references to “gypsies” are actually allusions to the Romani people, a nomadic European ethnic group whose lifestyle has historically been romanticized even as they have been discriminated against.
The following passage captures the way that Maggie both idealizes and looks down on the Romani people:
Unlock with LitCharts A+She would run away and go to the gypsies, and Tom should never see her any more. That was by no means a new idea to Maggie; she had been so often told she was like a gypsy, and “half wild,” that when she was miserable it seemed to her the only way of escaping opprobrium, and being entirely in harmony with circumstances would be to live in a little brown tent on the commons: the gypsies, she considered, would gladly receive her, and pay her much respect on account of her superior knowledge.
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Catholic Relief Act:
At a few points in the novel, the narrator mentions “the Catholic question,” an allusion to the Catholic Relief Act of 1829, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+But with the Catholic Question had come a slight wind of controversy to break the calm: the elderly rector had become occasionally historical and argumentative, and Mr Spray, the Independent minister, had begun to preach political sermons, in which he distinguished with much subtlety between his fervent belief in the right of the Catholics to the franchise and his fervent belief in their eternal perdition.
Related Themes:
Book 2, Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Eden:
When reflecting on Maggie’s shifting relationship to Philip as she matures into a young adult, the narrator compares childhood to “Eden,” a biblical allusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+When they did meet, she remembered her promise to kiss him, but, as a young lady who had been at a boarding-school, she knew now that such a greeting was out of the question, and that Philip would not expect it. This promise was void, like so many other sweet, illusory promises of our childhood; void as promises made in Eden [...] impossible to be fulfilled when the golden gates had been passed.
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