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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
Allusions
Explanation and Analysis—Diana:
When detailing the various ways that Mrs. Packletide flaunts her newfound status as a skilled huntress once back in London, Saki includes an allusion to Greek mythology, as seen in the following passage:
From Curzon Street the tiger-skin rug travelled down to the Manor House, and was duly inspected and admired by the county, and it seemed a fitting and appropriate thing when Mrs Packletide went to the County Costume Ball in the character of Diana.
When Saki writes that Mrs. Packletide “went to the County Costume Ball in the character of Diana,” he is referencing the Greek goddess Diana, patroness of the countryside, the moon, and—most importantly—the hunt. In dressing up as Diana, Mrs. Packletide is encouraging those in her upper-class social circle to view her as not only a skilled hunter but also a divine being. This choice exemplifies Mrs. Packletide’s vanity as well as her drive to make the other women in her elite circles jealous of her.
The statement that “it seemed a fitting and appropriate thing” for Mrs. Packletide to dress up as Diana is an example of verbal irony. This is because, as readers know, Mrs. Packletide did not actually shoot the tiger the way a true hunter would and is merely pretending to have done so for social clout.
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Explanation and Analysis—Mrs. Packletide’s Status:
In an example of dramatic irony, readers know that Mrs. Packletide did not actually shoot and kill the tiger, while all of the people in her upper-class English social circle believe that she did. (Though Mrs. Packletide killed the tiger in a way, it was only due to the sound of the explosive that he died from a heart attack, not from the actual shot.) The following passage captures the dramatic irony of Mrs. Packletide receiving endless praise and an increase in her social status for something she did not actually do:
Therefore did Mrs Packletide face the cameras with a light heart, and her pictured fame reached from the pages of the Texas Weekly Snapshot to the illustrated Monday supplement of the Novoe Vremya. As for Loona Bimberton, she refused to look at an illustrated paper for weeks, and her letter of thanks for the gift of a tiger-claw brooch was a model of repressed emotions.
As the narrator notes, Mrs. Packletide not only had her picture printed in newspapers from the United States to Russia, but she also achieved what she hoped for most: to make Loona Bimberton jealous (as seen in the combination of Loona's thank you letter and “repressed emotions”). The irony comes from the fact that readers know Mrs. Packletide is not telling the full truth. Of course, there is another person who knows the truth—Louisa Mebbin—and she ultimately blackmails Mrs. Packletide, committing to keep the secret in exchange for a weekend cottage.
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Explanation and Analysis—Nimrod and Airplanes:
When describing Mrs. Packletide’s interest in hunting a tiger in India, the narrator includes a biblical allusion as well as an allusion to recent historical events, as seen in the following passage:
The compelling motive for her sudden deviation towards the footsteps of Nimrod was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently been carried eleven miles in an aeroplane by an Algerian aviator, and talked of nothing else; only a personally procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs could successfully counter that sort of thing.
The biblical allusion here can be found in the narrator’s mention of Mrs. Packletide’s “sudden deviation towards the footsteps of Nimrod.” Nimrod, as Saki expected his readers to know, is Noah’s great-grandson, as mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Book of Chronicles. Here, Saki alludes to Nimrod’s reputation as a skilled hunter, implying that Mrs. Packletide seeks to embody a similar sort of prowess.
The historical allusion in this passage is to the then-recent development of the airplane. Saki wrote this story in 1911, less than a decade after the Wright brothers proved that flight was possible. That “Loona Bimberton had recently been carried eleven miles in an aeroplane by an Algerian aviator, and talked of nothing else” alludes to how, in the early part of the 20th century, airplanes were still a new and exciting technology. This moment also highlights how Mrs. Packletide’s jealousy toward Loona is the driving force for the story.
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