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Allegory
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
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Dracula's "Betrayal":
In a moment of desperation towards the end of Chapter 4, Jonathan Harker attempts to leave the Castle Dracula but is prevented from doing so by his host, whom Jonathan likens to Judas in a Biblical allusion:
In silence we returned to the library, and after a minute or two I went to my own room. The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand to me; with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that Judas in hell might be proud of.
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Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Prelude to a Storm:
Towards the end of Chapter 6, Stoker uses a combination of foreshadowing, imagery, and simile to generate a sense of dread and foreboding:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Today is a grey day, and the sun as I write is hidden in thick clouds, high over Kettleness. Everything is grey - except the green grass, which seems like an emerald amongst it . . . . Dark figures are on the beach here and there, sometimes half shrouded in mist, and seem "men like trees walking."
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Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—The River Lethe:
In a Chapter 10 excerpt from Dr. Seward's diary, Van Helsing alludes to Greek mythology while giving Lucy protections to ward off Dracula:
Unlock with LitCharts A+This is medicinal, but you do not know how. I put [the garlic flowers] in your window, I make a pretty wreath, and hang him round your neck, so that you sleep well. Oh yes! they, like the lotus flower, make your trouble forgotten. It smells so like the waters of Lethe.
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Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Lucy as Ophelia:
Towards the end of her life, in a diary entry at the beginning of chapter 11, Lucy likens herself to Ophelia, a character from the Shakespeare play Hamlet:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Well, here I am tonight, and lying like Ophelia in the play, with 'virgin crants and maiden strewments.' I never liked garlic before, but tonight it is delightful!
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Chapter 13
Explanation and Analysis—Lucy as Clay:
In Chapter 13, Seward notes the devotion of a young maid to the remains of her mistress, Miss Lucy; in doing so, he alludes to the Bible:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Here was a poor girl putting aside the terrors which she naturally had of death to go watch alone by the bier of the mistress whom she loved, so that the poor clay might not be lonely till laid to eternal rest.
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Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—The Garden of Eden:
Mina Harker asserts both her dominance and her intelligence in Chapter 14 by handing Van Helsing first the shorthand version of her notes (which she knows he will not be able to read). The temptation she feels to assert this dominance is likened to Eve being tempted by forbidden knowledge in the Garden of Eden:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I could not resist the temptation of mystifying him a bit - I suppose it is some of the taste of the original apple that still remains in our mouths - so I handed him the shorthand diary.
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Chapter 16
Explanation and Analysis—Lucy and Medusa:
In Chapter 16, after blocking the passageway to Lucy's tomb, Seward, Van Helsing, Quincey, and Arthur corner Lucy (in vampire form). Upon viewing her changed appearance, Seward makes an apt allusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Never did I see such baffled malice on a face; and never, I trust, shall such ever be seen again by mortal eyes. The beautiful color became livid, the eyes seemed to throw out sparks of hell-fire, the brows were wrinkled as though the folds of the flesh were the coils of Medusa's snakes, and the lovely, bloodstained mouth grew to an open square.
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