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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
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Vita Sackville-West:
Orlando, as a character, is a fictionalized portrayal of Vita Sackville-West, a woman with whom Woolf was intimately involved. Woolf consistently alludes to Sackville-West when depicting both the character of Orlando and the setting in which Orlando lives. Numerous references to Sackville-West exist in the text, particularly in Woolf's development of Orlando's family estate. When Orlando meets Queen Elizabeth I early in the novel, the Queen eventually gives Orlando the gift of an English estate—to which Orlando returns in the final chapter:
[...] so tradition has it, when Orlando was sound asleep, that she made over formally, putting her hand and seal finally to the parchment, the gift of the great monastic house that had been the Archbishop's and then the King's to Orlando's father.
The Sackville-West family acquired their family estate, Knole, in a similar fashion as Orlando. Queen Elizabeth I was the cousin of Thomas Sackville, Vita's ancestor, and received Knole from an indirect Archbishop in the mid-16th century. Vita, much like Orlando, grew up with wealth and privilege, and she pursued a life as a writer and poet. Sackville-West's 1922 work Knole and the Sackvilles includes intimate details of her life and family estate; information Woolf likely drew upon for Orlando.
Like Orlando, Sackville-West explored her sexuality and gender identity throughout life, taking both male and female lovers. Just as Orlando adopts multiple gender identities throughout the novel, Sackville-West often dressed and presented as a man throughout her life and would occasionally refer to herself using the male name "Julian." Sackville-West was also of Romani descent, explored in Orlando when Orlando joins a caravan of Romani people living in Constantinople. Sackville-West's portrait actually appears in the pages of Orlando, as she poses as "Orlando" during multiple phases of the character's life.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Great Frost:
In Chapter 1 of Orlando, Woolf alludes to the Great Frost of 1708-1709, utilizing it to illustrate the rigid social divide between London's urban and rural populations during the same period. Considered to be the coldest European winter in 500 years, the Great Frost caused the agricultural economy of rural England to collapse, taking entire communities of people with it:
Corpses froze and could not be drawn from the sheets. The fields were full of shepherds, plough-men, teams of horses, and little bird-scaring boys all struck stark in the act of the moment. The severity of the frost was so extraordinary that a kind of petrifaction sometimes ensued.
After describing the Great Frost with tremendous detail, Woolf pivots to depict the culture of urban London around the same time: "While the country people suffered the extremity of want," writes Woolf, "London enjoyed a carnival of utmost brilliancy." London's aristocracy, with its amassed wealth and amassed military, utilized the horror of the Great Frost to their advantage. They had the means to capitalize upon its destruction, seemingly without regard for the rural communities who stood both literally and symbolically frozen in time. Woolf implies that the Great Frost produced a time of social freedom for a select privileged class, while others struggled in agony to feed and warm themselves.
This allusion helps contextualize Orlando's upbringing in post-Frost England, where he adopts certain conservative social beliefs—for example, believing that Sasha must be a man, for "no woman could skate with such speed and vigour." Although Orlando exists beyond time in one sense, his various "selves" often reflect social standards from the time in which they exist. Woolf's allusions to the real historical events that influenced these social standards thus deepen the novel's connections to the real world and display Woolf's combining of fiction and nonfiction in Orlando.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—William Shakespeare:
Woolf fills the narrative of Orlando with allusions to real-life literary figures and historical events, with one in particular aimed at William Shakespeare:
But there, sitting at the servant's dinner table with a tankard beside him and paper in front of him, sat a rather fat, shabby man, whose ruff was a thought dirty, and whose clothes were of hodden brown. He held a pen in his hand, but was not writing. [...] For all his hurry, Orlando stopped dead. Was this a poet? Was he writing poetry?
When Orlando encounters this "rather fat, shabby man" at a pub in the 16th century, he is not aware that the man is William Shakespeare, but Orlando feels drawn to the possibility of him being a poet. At this point in the novel, Woolf does not explicitly reveal this man to be Shakespeare, but alludes to such a fact through descriptions of the man's pen, and Orlando's curiosity. Woolf's odd depiction of Shakespeare is likely intentional: although Shakespeare is a poetic giant and perhaps the most recognized literary figure in history, he remains a normal human susceptible to normal human flaws, which Woolf seeks to highlight.
Later in the novel, Orlando recalls this moment from her past, and Woolf's narrator again alludes directly to Shakespeare:
"He sat at Twitchett's table," she mused, "with a dirty ruff on... Was it old Mr. Baker come to measure the timber? Or was it Sh—p—re?" (for when we speak names we deeply reverence to ourselves we never speak them whole).
Although Woolf directly references Shakespeare here, her narrator does not spell out his full name, a humorous and likely intentional choice aimed to normalize the otherworldly talents of Shakespeare. Orlando idolizes Shakespeare—in fact, the name "Orlando" is shared with the lead character in Shakespeare's As You Like It. However, Woolf seeks to push back against traditional conventions of literature throughout Orlando, including the extravagant reverence of Shakespeare.
Related Themes:
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—William Shakespeare:
Woolf fills the narrative of Orlando with allusions to real-life literary figures and historical events, with one in particular aimed at William Shakespeare:
But there, sitting at the servant's dinner table with a tankard beside him and paper in front of him, sat a rather fat, shabby man, whose ruff was a thought dirty, and whose clothes were of hodden brown. He held a pen in his hand, but was not writing. [...] For all his hurry, Orlando stopped dead. Was this a poet? Was he writing poetry?
When Orlando encounters this "rather fat, shabby man" at a pub in the 16th century, he is not aware that the man is William Shakespeare, but Orlando feels drawn to the possibility of him being a poet. At this point in the novel, Woolf does not explicitly reveal this man to be Shakespeare, but alludes to such a fact through descriptions of the man's pen, and Orlando's curiosity. Woolf's odd depiction of Shakespeare is likely intentional: although Shakespeare is a poetic giant and perhaps the most recognized literary figure in history, he remains a normal human susceptible to normal human flaws, which Woolf seeks to highlight.
Later in the novel, Orlando recalls this moment from her past, and Woolf's narrator again alludes directly to Shakespeare:
"He sat at Twitchett's table," she mused, "with a dirty ruff on... Was it old Mr. Baker come to measure the timber? Or was it Sh—p—re?" (for when we speak names we deeply reverence to ourselves we never speak them whole).
Although Woolf directly references Shakespeare here, her narrator does not spell out his full name, a humorous and likely intentional choice aimed to normalize the otherworldly talents of Shakespeare. Orlando idolizes Shakespeare—in fact, the name "Orlando" is shared with the lead character in Shakespeare's As You Like It. However, Woolf seeks to push back against traditional conventions of literature throughout Orlando, including the extravagant reverence of Shakespeare.
Related Themes:
