What is an Allusion?
In short, an allusion is a figure of speech that references a famous person, place, event, or literary work. Allusions are either implied or direct. If you hear someone say, “Cupid’s arrow keeps missing me,” he or she alludes to the classic mythology that hails Cupid as the arrow-bearing God of Love.
In literature, writers use allusion to link their piece with another well-known work and evoke creative associations in the reader’s mind. Allusions reference timeless pieces like the Bible, Shakespeare’s plays, children’s fairy tales, and even popular ad campaigns. However, an allusion’s impact is only as good as the reader’s knowledge of the referenced piece.
Allusion in Everyday Speech
Our mundane conversations are rife with allusions, sometimes without us realizing it. We allude to classic literary work we’ve read before, iconic movies we’ve watched more than once, and even famous lines from famous people. Here are a few examples of allusions in everyday speech:
- Don’t be a Grinch and enjoy the holidays with your family. (Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch)
- Meryl played fairy godmother when she turned Joyce into a prom queen. (Cinderella’s fairy godmother magically turning her into a goddess in a night)
- Her mom warned her not to lie lest her nose will grow longer. (Pinocchio)
- Shane has that mysterious Mona Lisa smile. (Shane’s smile looks like that of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.)
- Alex is the Einstein of her peers. (Alex is a genius like Albert Einstein.)
- Wow! Look at how gorgeous our ugly duckling has become. (Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling)
- He’s dated a lot of girls, but Kristine is his kryptonite. (Superman’s weakness)
- I don’t want our love story to be a Romeo and Juliet tragedy. (Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story which the speaker doesn’t want her love story to be.)
- Dan mustered the courage to follow his white rabbit, and it changed his life forever. (Alice chased the White Rabbit into Wonderland. This example alludes to the novel’s idea that chasing the White Rabbit opens up new worlds and wondrous possibilities.)
- Our teachers believe we’re the salt of the Earth and the light of the world. (Gospel of Matthew)
Related Reading: Hyperbole – Exaggeration & Overstatement
Allusions in Literature
Here are a few examples of allusion in literature:
- From The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
“When the phone rang I was in the kitchen, boiling a potful of spaghetti and whistling along with an FM broadcast of the overture to Rossini’s “The Thieving Magpie,” which has to be the perfect music for cooking pasta.”
Contemporary Japanese author Haruki Murakami’s allusion to Western culture powers his pieces and contextualizes the stories he writes. Here, the main character listening to The Thieving Magpie is a gripping opening scene that sets the score for the entire book.
- From Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
“So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”
In this poem, the legendary poet Robert Frost’s allusion to the biblical Garden of Eden implies the fall of man. He delivers the idea that everything we exalt or hold dear eventually passes.
- From Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
“. . .Out of the history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise”
This empowering poem by Maya Angelou alludes to the historical struggles of black people. The allusion establishes context and fuels the poet’s narrative. Referencing history, oppression, and slavery ignites a sense of solidarity among the readers, too.
Using Allusion in Writing
Crafting clever allusions requires in-depth vocabulary and vast knowledge of the world, but you don’t have to be a voracious reader to excel at it. So, start with what you already know and write allusions that build a strong connection with your readers.
If you’re writing a short story or an essay about solo traveling, refresh your mind and reference well-known people, events, places, and another literary work. For example, Jon Krakauer’s Into The Wild or Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love may come up. Allusions don’t have to be grand to be effective. Do a little research and decide what fits your piece and what doesn’t. In other words, be your own Shakespeare.
Thank you for reading. We hope it’s effective! Always feel free to revisit this page if you ever have any questions about allusion.
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