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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
Section 1
Explanation and Analysis—Cymbeline:
An important allusion to Shakespeare's work comes when Clarissa is out buying flowers. Looking around at everyday life, she thinks about how everything will surely continue to go on without her when she eventually dies, but this doesn't necessarily bother her—in fact, she's in a fairly good mood, even as she thinks somewhat morbid thoughts. Then, however, she looks into the window of a bookshop and reads two lines from an open copy of Shakespeare's play Cymbeline:
Fear no more the heat o' the sun
Nor the furious winter's rages.
These lines come from a funeral song in the play. Before reading the lines, Clarissa was in a generally appreciative mood, happily taking in the bustling activity around her. But the elegiac lines suddenly make her think about how everyone seems to now have a deep "well of tears" within them—a thought most likely connected to the loss and destruction of World War I, the memory of which Clarissa feels lurking in everyone and everything around her, even if she also recognizes the beauty of her surrounding circumstances. In this moment, then, the allusion to Cymbeline (and, specifically, the funeral song) causes Clarissa to reflect on how violence and death have changed the society in which she lives.
Another important allusion to this moment in Cymbeline comes toward the end of the novel, when Lucrezia and Septimus return from visiting Sir William Bradshaw, who has insisted that Septimus should be sent on his own to convalesce in the country. Although Septimus normally feels isolated from his wife, he connects with her in this section because she promises to stay with him, contrary to Bradshaw's orders. She also expresses a certain appreciation for his scraps of paper with hallucinatory phrases written on them, and this makes him feel connected to her all the more. But then Dr. Holmes visits the house to check on Septimus, and as Lucrezia tries to keep him from coming up the steps, Septimus decides that the only way to avoid terrible men like Dr. Holmes and William Bradshaw is by killing himself, so he sits on the windowsill and prepares to jump—but he waits until just before Dr. Holmes reaches the room:
But he would wait till the very last moment. He did not want to die. Life was good. The sun hot.
The acknowledgment that the sun is hot in this moment is yet another allusion to the funeral song from Cymbeline. Given that he wants to wait until the last possible moment before killing himself, the implication is that Septimus "fear[s] no more the heat o' the sun"—that is, he isn't afraid of life, even as he's about to embrace death.
Related Themes:
Section 3
Explanation and Analysis—Othello:
When Clarissa Dalloway was younger, she fell in love with Sally Seton. Looking back as an adult, she remembers the intense feelings she experienced during this time, making an allusion to Shakespeare's play Othello:
But she could remember [...] feeling as she crossed the hall 'if it were now to die 'twere now to be most happy'. That was her feeling — Othello's feeling, and she felt it, she was convinced, as strongly as Shakespeare meant Othello to feel it, all because she was coming down to dinner in a white frock to meet Sally Seton!
The allusion in this passage is drawn from the scene in Othello in which Othello lands on the island of Cyprus after a treacherous ocean passage. His new wife, Desdemona, made the passage on a different boat, so when Othello arrives in Cyprus and discovers that she, too, made it safely to the island, he expresses his utter relief and happiness by suggesting that he would be at his "most happy" if he were to die right then and there. By alluding to this moment in Othello, then, this passage in Mrs Dalloway underscores Clarissa's excitement and eagerness to see Sally, suggesting that she feels the same overwhelming pleasure and relief that Othello experiences after realizing that he and Desdemona have not lost each other. This accentuates and dramatizes Clarissa's romantic feelings for Sally, illustrating just how much she cares about her—so much, it seems, that simply going downstairs to meet Sally is like reuniting with her after a long, arduous journey.
Perhaps more importantly, though, this allusion appears a second time toward the end of the novel, when Sir William Bradshaw comes to Clarissa's party and tells her about how Septimus has killed himself. Of course, Clarissa doesn't know Septimus, but they have been subtly linked throughout the novel, as they both often think about Shakespeare and, for that matter, have a certain all-encompassing appreciation for the beauty in life, even if they also often think about death. Clarissa is angry at William Bradshaw for mentioning such a tragic occurrence at her party, thinking:
But this young man who had killed himself — had he plunged holding his treasure? 'If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy,' she had said to herself once, coming down, in white.
Clarissa's thought here suggests that she doesn't see Septimus's suicide as solely a tragic thing—it might, the novel implies, be an act of mercy, dignity, and even (in a way) happiness. This is why Clarissa wonders if he "plunged holding his treasure," which suggests that she thinks suicide can be a way to preserve something beautiful. In keeping with this, she remembers the quote from Othello about dying in a moment of peak happiness—which, of course, is exactly what happened to Septimus, who chose to jump out of the window while genuinely appreciating the beauty in life. In this way, the two characters serve as foils for one another, as the narrative uses them to accentuate certain qualities in each other—they're in drastically different circumstances, of course, but they have similar feelings when it comes to death, beauty, and happiness.
Related Themes:
Section 7
Explanation and Analysis—Cymbeline:
An important allusion to Shakespeare's work comes when Clarissa is out buying flowers. Looking around at everyday life, she thinks about how everything will surely continue to go on without her when she eventually dies, but this doesn't necessarily bother her—in fact, she's in a fairly good mood, even as she thinks somewhat morbid thoughts. Then, however, she looks into the window of a bookshop and reads two lines from an open copy of Shakespeare's play Cymbeline:
Fear no more the heat o' the sun
Nor the furious winter's rages.
These lines come from a funeral song in the play. Before reading the lines, Clarissa was in a generally appreciative mood, happily taking in the bustling activity around her. But the elegiac lines suddenly make her think about how everyone seems to now have a deep "well of tears" within them—a thought most likely connected to the loss and destruction of World War I, the memory of which Clarissa feels lurking in everyone and everything around her, even if she also recognizes the beauty of her surrounding circumstances. In this moment, then, the allusion to Cymbeline (and, specifically, the funeral song) causes Clarissa to reflect on how violence and death have changed the society in which she lives.
Another important allusion to this moment in Cymbeline comes toward the end of the novel, when Lucrezia and Septimus return from visiting Sir William Bradshaw, who has insisted that Septimus should be sent on his own to convalesce in the country. Although Septimus normally feels isolated from his wife, he connects with her in this section because she promises to stay with him, contrary to Bradshaw's orders. She also expresses a certain appreciation for his scraps of paper with hallucinatory phrases written on them, and this makes him feel connected to her all the more. But then Dr. Holmes visits the house to check on Septimus, and as Lucrezia tries to keep him from coming up the steps, Septimus decides that the only way to avoid terrible men like Dr. Holmes and William Bradshaw is by killing himself, so he sits on the windowsill and prepares to jump—but he waits until just before Dr. Holmes reaches the room:
But he would wait till the very last moment. He did not want to die. Life was good. The sun hot.
The acknowledgment that the sun is hot in this moment is yet another allusion to the funeral song from Cymbeline. Given that he wants to wait until the last possible moment before killing himself, the implication is that Septimus "fear[s] no more the heat o' the sun"—that is, he isn't afraid of life, even as he's about to embrace death.
Related Themes:
Section 9
Explanation and Analysis—Othello:
When Clarissa Dalloway was younger, she fell in love with Sally Seton. Looking back as an adult, she remembers the intense feelings she experienced during this time, making an allusion to Shakespeare's play Othello:
But she could remember [...] feeling as she crossed the hall 'if it were now to die 'twere now to be most happy'. That was her feeling — Othello's feeling, and she felt it, she was convinced, as strongly as Shakespeare meant Othello to feel it, all because she was coming down to dinner in a white frock to meet Sally Seton!
The allusion in this passage is drawn from the scene in Othello in which Othello lands on the island of Cyprus after a treacherous ocean passage. His new wife, Desdemona, made the passage on a different boat, so when Othello arrives in Cyprus and discovers that she, too, made it safely to the island, he expresses his utter relief and happiness by suggesting that he would be at his "most happy" if he were to die right then and there. By alluding to this moment in Othello, then, this passage in Mrs Dalloway underscores Clarissa's excitement and eagerness to see Sally, suggesting that she feels the same overwhelming pleasure and relief that Othello experiences after realizing that he and Desdemona have not lost each other. This accentuates and dramatizes Clarissa's romantic feelings for Sally, illustrating just how much she cares about her—so much, it seems, that simply going downstairs to meet Sally is like reuniting with her after a long, arduous journey.
Perhaps more importantly, though, this allusion appears a second time toward the end of the novel, when Sir William Bradshaw comes to Clarissa's party and tells her about how Septimus has killed himself. Of course, Clarissa doesn't know Septimus, but they have been subtly linked throughout the novel, as they both often think about Shakespeare and, for that matter, have a certain all-encompassing appreciation for the beauty in life, even if they also often think about death. Clarissa is angry at William Bradshaw for mentioning such a tragic occurrence at her party, thinking:
But this young man who had killed himself — had he plunged holding his treasure? 'If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy,' she had said to herself once, coming down, in white.
Clarissa's thought here suggests that she doesn't see Septimus's suicide as solely a tragic thing—it might, the novel implies, be an act of mercy, dignity, and even (in a way) happiness. This is why Clarissa wonders if he "plunged holding his treasure," which suggests that she thinks suicide can be a way to preserve something beautiful. In keeping with this, she remembers the quote from Othello about dying in a moment of peak happiness—which, of course, is exactly what happened to Septimus, who chose to jump out of the window while genuinely appreciating the beauty in life. In this way, the two characters serve as foils for one another, as the narrative uses them to accentuate certain qualities in each other—they're in drastically different circumstances, of course, but they have similar feelings when it comes to death, beauty, and happiness.
Related Themes:
