The Custom of the Country: Allusions 7 key examples

All of the artworks that Undine alludes to here are cultural references from Wharton. "When the Kissing Had to Stop" is not a real novel that Undine could have read. (Though in 1960, a novel by that title was written by British writer Constantine Fitzgibbon.) The fictitious title is an allusion to Robert Browning's poem "A Toccata of Galuppi's," published in 1855. The poem describes, among other things, how men and women need to relate on deeper things than mere surface-level attraction, an ironic jibe from Wharton about Undine's romantic relationships. The title of Undine's most recent read, then, is a subtle allusion that makes a funny comment about its reader's character.

Sarah Burnhard is in fact the famous French actress Sarah Bernhardt. She was one of the most famous figures in theater in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in both Europe and the United States. Undine saw Bernhardt in what she calls "Leg-Long" and "Fade." "Leg-Long" is "L'Aiglon," or "The Eaglet," which was a nickname for Napoleon II, the play's subject. The play was written by Edmond Rostand and was first performed in 1900 in Paris with Bernhardt in the cast. "Fade" is "Phèdre," the classic Jean Racine play. Bernhardt depicted the title character, the doomed wife of Theseus, king of Thebes, several times throughout her career. Bernhardt performed both of these plays in New York in the early 1900s, so it is realistic that Undine could have seen both. But Undine bungles the actress's name, is unable to pronounce the title of the plays, and doesn't remember any of the plots. Undine, in sum, attempts to participate in high culture—and fails pitifully.

Wharton's clever allusions amplify the effect of Undine's lack of learning here. Even the fake names are suffused with complex allusion; Wharton aims to show ironically Undine's lack of knowledge. Wharton uses a mixture of fictitious works and real ones but still aims to show, through these allusions, that Undine does not know literature of any kind at any level. 

Elmer and Mr. Spragg have reason to hold a grudge against one another, as Mr. Spragg broke up Elmer and Undine's relationship back in Apex, ruining Elmer's image in the community. But Elmer is not trying to get Mr. Spragg to make it up to him by giving him a job. Elmer is "not that kind": he doesn't hold grudges. He clarifies that he is making a "coals-of-fire call," an allusion to Proverbs 25:21–22. This is a passage about how one should treat an enemy: "If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee." In other words, be kind to your enemy, because if you "heap coals of fire upon his head," God will punish you in equal measure. So Elmer makes a "coals-of-fire call" when he asks his enemy, Mr. Spragg, to treat him kindly and give him a job.

This allusion also reflects Elmer's character. He uses this allusion rather idiomatically, showing his ease with biblical reference; it may seem he is a good Christian who knows the Bible well. But on the other hand, Elmer uses this allusion purely out of ambition, as he aims to elevate himself in society using any means necessary, even collaborating with old enemies. This passage, about goodwill toward enemies but used in ambitious striving, is an ironic reflection on Elmer's character.

Ralph realizes that Undine has no problem with money; her greedy spending is a result of the fact that she's always had someone to pay for her, usually her father. Then the narrator, seemingly communicating Ralph's thoughts, compares Undine to the "lilies of the field." Ralph is referring to Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, particularly the famous passage from Matthew 6:28–29: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." In other words, Jesus tells the people that there is no need to strive for wealth, because the lilies of the field don't ever do any work, and God made them more beautiful than Solomon, the King of Israel who was made extremely wealthy through his relationship with the Queen of Sheba.

So Ralph realizes that Undine acts like the "lilies of the field" as she follows the biblical message to not toil or spin or work at all. Ralph understands that this is "not because her wants were as few." Instead, she always has people excited "to enable her to unite floral insouciance with Sheban elegance": that is, to enable her to at once be like the lilies of the field (who never have to work) and to have all the elegance of Solomon, which came from Sheba. So Ralph reinterprets the biblical story—which preaches temperance and acceptance of one's circumstances—so that it aligns with Undine's laziness and greed. 

What Ralph means is that Undine has never been this cold to him. He characterizes this "remoteness" as "Ariel-like." This is an allusion to the character of Ariel from Shakespeare's late romance, The Tempest. Ariel is a floating, genderless spirit who mostly avoids human interaction. This is Ralph's first interpretation of Undine's coolness toward him: that Undine has become like a flighty spirit who won't interact with him.

Then, Ralph expands his assessment of Undine. He thinks that Undine's quietness is not "the recoil of ignorance"—she isn't ignoring Ralph because she doesn't understand his conversation. Instead, Ralph thinks that Undine's fundamental nature is to be cool toward others, from "the element from which she took her name." The name "Undine," to which Ralph alludes, comes from the "undines," a class of elemental water nymphs, first defined in writings on alchemy by Paracelsus, the Swiss thinker of the Middle Ages. Undines were representative of water itself and so had a cool, detached nature, and they were unmoved by petty concerns. Ralph guesses that Undine's name shows that she is ignoring him because she is "cool" like the element of water.

Ralph, as he so often does, interprets Undine incorrectly. Undine has none of the "coolness of the element from which she took her name." Her emotions and ambitions change quickly, like waves crashing back and forth—it is only in this way (as Ralph realizes later in the novel) that Undine's character represents her name. Ralph, for all of his careful consideration, still never fully understands Undine. This chapter, with this as one of its many allusions, also shows how Ralph's interest in literature alienates Undine, as she comes to dislike his obscure conversation. Ralph's understanding of Undine, through these literary references, shows the difference between their perspectives—a difference that will lead to their eventual falling out and divorce.

In his vision, Ralph sees his book come to him quickly and aggressively, like an eagle. Ralph is very well-educated, so this immediately makes him think of Jove, also known as Jupiter, the Roman god of thunder who was associated with eagles. Then, he remembers the particular story of "the bird of Jove" that he finds especially relevant to his situation: the punishment of Prometheus.

Prometheus, whose name means "forethought," was a Greek Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, thus giving them technology, knowledge, and civilization. For this, Prometheus was punished by Zeus (the Greek version of Jove), who sent an eagle to peck out Prometheus's liver every day, only for it to grow back to be pecked out again. Ralph gives a common interpretation of the story: Prometheus stole fire from the gods because he was imagining a better world for humans, and thus his torture from Jove is a parable about the perils of imagination.

Ralph imagines his book, then, as a punishment brought on by the gods. Like an eagle swooping down on Prometheus, so his vision of the book "tore at" Ralph and his overactive imagination. Ralph's vision is quite true to his situation. He prefers to think and read than to write, and the need to write a book is a sort of divine punishment for him. Ralph's allusions to classical mythology help clarify his character and perspective on writing.

This reference to Prometheus is one of several rather erudite allusions made by Ralph within this particular conversation on the honeymoon. Undine originally found these charming, but around this point in the novel, she starts to feel alienated because she doesn't understand her husband. Ralph's allusions, including this one, are crucial to the plot, as they work to drive him and his wife apart.

This complicated joke shows how much Elmer has changed from the time of his elopement with Undine in Apex. Never known for being especially literate, now Elmer quotes from Samson Agonistes, Milton's late-career drama retelling the story of Samson from the Old Testament. Elmer quotes the first line of the poem, though slightly inaccurately (Milton writes "onward" instead of "farther"). The play begins with, Samson, the superhuman leader of the Israelites, in prison with his wife Dalila, having been captured by the Philistines. Samson has been blinded by his captors, and in the line Elmer quotes, he asks his wife to help him: "a little farther lend thy guiding hand." Elmer's joke is that Undine guided him to the office when he didn't know where it was with her voice, talking loudly with her father.

As he has climbed the social ladder, Elmer's character has changed, as his personality shifts to fit in with the high society he so ambitiously pursues. In this, Elmer contrasts Undine, whose character doesn't change throughout the novel despite her growing material prosperity. The allusion to Milton is a prime example of Elmer's changing character, as he strives for a higher position. 

Elmer forgets that Undine won't understand his discussion of business dealings, and he tries to tell the story of his success in dramatic terms to impress her and win her back. In this, as the narrator describes, Elmer makes Undine into "a new Desdemona." This is an allusion to Shakespeare's tragedy Othello. In the play, the title character, a North African military commander, elopes with Desdemona, a Venetian young woman. (The plot of the play concerns Othello's suspicions of Desdemona's infidelity.) In Act III, Othello describes how he told his story of the defeat of the anthropophagi to Desdemona, and how the tale endeared him to her. The anthropophagi, whose name literally means "human-eater," were a fictional race of cannibals from an unnamed foreign island, probably invented by Shakespeare.

Elmer's story of his business struggles and successes is "the new anthropophagi," the story which will win over his lover. The narrator implies that the Wall Street class of businessmen are "anthropophagi"—that they eat each other alive. The narrator's allusion to Shakespeare makes multiple subtle comments about this crucial moment in the plot, as Undine and Elmer come together again.