Allusion in Writing: 3 Allusion Examples in Literature Explained
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Sep 28, 2022 • 7 min read
An allusion is a literary device writers use to develop characters, frame storylines, and help create associations with well-known works. As figures of speech, allusions can reference anything from Victorian fairy tales to popular culture and from the Bible to the Bard. Learn more about what allusions are and how to use them in your writing.
Learn From the Best
What Is Allusion in Writing?
In literature, an allusion is a figure of speech that refers to a famous person, place, or historical event either directly or through implication. For example, say you have a friend who is so smart you playfully refer to them by saying, “Rose is a real Einstein.” This allusion would be a reference to Albert Einstein, the lauded physicist.
The origin of the word allusion is in the Latin verb “ludere,” which means to play, mimic, mock, or deceive. An allusion is different from foreshadowing, which is a reference to something that has not happened yet. Writers use both to give readers more insight; however, allusion is for creating context, while foreshadowing is for creating tension.
How Is Allusion Used in Literature?
Writers use allusions as stylistic devices to help contextualize a story by referencing a well-known person, place, event, or another literary work. They do not have to explicitly explain these references; more often than not, writers choose to let readers fill in the blanks.
Writers might elect to use an allusion to communicate an idea or description quickly. For example, an author might call something “Tiffany Blue”—a reference to the specific blue the jeweler Tiffany & Co. has used in its branding since the 1800s—rather than using a full sentence to describe the precise shade.
Alternatively, a writer could use allusions as a way to relate more closely to their readers, by referencing people, events, or other pop culture touchpoints with which they are likely to be familiar. For example, an author who writes about a character with “a Cheshire grin” is betting on readers understanding the reference to the Cheshire cat in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
6 Different Types of Literary Allusions
In studying the allusive references in Virgil’s poem “Georgics,” academic R.F. Thomas distinguished six types of allusions with varying degrees of obscureness:
- 1. Apparent reference: An allusion that seems to recall a specific source but challenges that source.
- 2. Casual reference: An offhand allusion that is not integral to the plot.
- 3. Corrective allusion: A comparison that is openly in opposition to the source material.
- 4. Multiple references or conflation: A variety of allusions that combine cultural traditions in a single work.
- 5. Self-reference: A reference by the writer to their own work, such as another book or play.
- 6. Single reference: The viewer or reader is meant to infer the connection between the work at hand and the allusion.
How to Use Allusion in Writing
Writers can use allusions to build trust with their readers, contextualize characters, and help disclose plot points. Here are some ways in which your use of allusion can support your storytelling:
- Deliver exposition. You can use allusions to offer readers clues that intimate other stories in thrillers or mysteries. In The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens, for example, allusions to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth foreshadow the story’s plot and the motivations of its characters.
- Develop characters. Using well-known figures as character inspiration can help to define characters and associate familiarity with the reader. For example, King Triton in the animated film The Little Mermaid bears a resemblance to certain ancient depictions of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea.
- Provide context. An allusion to another work can delineate differences or similarities between the two. The 1999 film The Matrix draws parallels with Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The film’s main character, Neo, follows a character called the “white rabbit girl” to a mysterious underworld, much like Alice’s journey into Wonderland.
Common Examples of Allusion
Some allusions are so commonplace people use them in everyday speech without much thought to their origins. A few examples include:
- “Algebra is my kryptonite.” The comic-book superhero Superman has only one weakness—the material kryptonite. When people allude to this, they are communicating a weakness or other vulnerability.
- “Bah humbug!” This popular saying references the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol. The allusion, which people often use to express curmudgeonly dissatisfaction, is an association with the tale’s egregious character, Ebenezer Scrooge.
- “His remarks opened a Pandora’s box of comments.” In a Greek myth, the figure of Pandora opened a vessel that released death and other evils upon the world. This allusion, therefore, refers to a multitude of negative outcomes.
- “If only I could click my heels to get there.” In the film The Wizard of Oz, the protagonist Dorothy taps her shoes together to instantly transport herself back to her farmhouse. People make this allusion when they wish they could arrive somewhere faster or by simpler means.
3 Allusion Examples in Literature
Authors, playwrights, and poets alike use allusion in their works to develop characters or provide context. Here are a few examples:
- 1. Fahrenheit 451: In his dystopian novel, author Ray Bradbury writes, “He was eating a light supper at nine in the evening when the front door cried out in the hall and Mildred ran from the parlor like a native fleeing an eruption of Vesuvius.” This allusion is to Italy’s Mount Vesuvius, a volcano that erupted in 79 A.D., burying the Roman city of Pompeii. Bradbury is communicating that Mildred left the parlor in a panicked hurry.
- 2. “Nothing Gold Can Stay”: Robert Frost references paradise and mankind’s fall from grace in his poem: “Nature’s first green is gold, / Her hardest hue to hold. / Her early leaf’s a flower; / But only so an hour. / Then leaf subsides to leaf. / So Eden sank to grief, / So dawn goes down to day. / Nothing gold can stay.” This is a biblical allusion to the idyllic garden of Eden and the events which culminated in God driving Adam and Eve out of paradise. The author seems to draw a parallel between the biblical story and the passage of time, describing both things perhaps as inevitable.
- 3. Romeo and Juliet: In Act 1, Scene 4 of William Shakespeare’s play about star-crossed lovers, the character Benvolio says, “We’ll have no Cupid hoodwinked with a scarf,” referring to the Roman god of romantic love. He is describing a scenario in which love is figuratively blind, as well as playing with the idea of someone being literally unable to see due to wearing a blindfold.
Tips for Using Allusion in Your Writing
Using allusion in your writing will become easier with practice. Author Neil Gaiman often includes allusive references in his works to provide context and generate interest in specific topics. His allusions reference Egyptian and Greek mythology, Victorian fairy tales, Beowulf and Norse mythology, Shakespeare, Tolkien, and modern cinema, to name a few. For example, Neil’s novel Coraline has similar themes to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
“I think it’s really important for a writer to have a compost heap,” the author says. “Everything you read, things that you write, things that you listen to, people you encounter, they can all go on the compost heap. And they will rot down. And out of them grow beautiful stories.” Here, Neil offers tips to writers who want to use allusions as a jumping-off point for new work:
- Change the point of view. Choose an alternate character to retell a familiar story. In the novel Foe, J.M. Coetzee narrates the tale of Robinson Crusoe from the point of view of Susan Barton, a castaway who washed up on the island in the middle of the titular Crusoe’s adventures.
- Make it yours. Take a familiar story and add in a bit of your own background or experience. Mario Puzo did this with panache in The Godfather, bringing elements of Shakespeare’s Henry IV to the world he knew well: Italian immigrants in post-war America.
- Modernize the themes. A lot of classic tales get a gender-based upgrade, where an author will delve into a female character’s head from a more modern perspective. Margaret Atwood’s novella The Penelopiad revisits Homer's “The Odyssey” through the eyes of Penelope and her chorus of twelve maids.
- Switch a story element. This could mean taking a story to a new location—Cinder by Marissa Meyer reimagines Cinderella as a cyborg in Beijing—or changing the type of story—in The Snow Queen, Joan D. Vinge turns Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale into a space opera.
Want to Learn More About Writing?
Become a better writer with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Neil Gaiman, Walter Mosley, Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, Dan Brown, and more.