Literary characters

By Jack Christensen

Literary Characters and Allusions

• An allusion, according to dictionary.com is: a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication: an allusion to Shakespeare.

Allusions

The purpose of this Powerpoint is to provide you with a brief knowledge of important literary characters which other authors allude to

It will also provide a brief synopsis of the plot in order to contextualize the character

This in no way, is an exhaustive list

Purpose

Captain AhabAhab is a character from

Herman Melville’s Moby Dick

Ahab was obsessed with capturing the White Whale

Within the book, Ahab faces the dilemma of Man Vs. NatureMan Vs. Self

King Lear is a character from Shakespeare’s play with the same name

King Lear fell into madness after he was betrayed by his daughters Regan and Goneril

When alluded to, usually it is discussing a fall from grace

King Lear

Oedipus Rex is a Greek play by Sophocles

Oedipus is famous for marrying his mother and killing his father and is the source for the term Oedipus complex

The play focuses on how every person is bound by fate

Also famous for gouging his eyes out at the discovery of his transgressions

Oedipus Rex

Lancelot is not from a specific text, but hails from Arthurian legend.

Famous for being the best knight in King Arthur’s Court.

Best friend of King Arthur but also in love with King Arthur ‘s wife Guinevere

Lancelot

Famous for betraying his best friendOften alluded to in regards to love trianglesAlso alluded to because of his skill in fencing

and horseback riding

Lancelot continued

Romeo is one of literature’s most famous heartthrobs

He is famous for falling in love with and wooing Juliet in Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”

Often characterized as being “heart sick”

Also associated with:Forbidden loveHaste is waste

Romeo

Also comes from Arthurian legend

The illegitimate son of Lancelot

Famous for his passivity and purity

Also famous for finding the Holy Grail

Sir Galahad

The leading lady from Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”

After murdering the King, her mental state deteriorates to madness

Associated with:Madness from guilt“Out damned spot!”

Lady Macbeth

The main character from Homer’s The Odyssey

The story follows Odysseus as he attempts to sail home to his family after the Trojan war

Odysseus is associated with:Seemingly never-

ending journeysWandering

Odysseus

The story of Iccarus is a Greek Myth in which Iccarus escapes from prison with wax wings, but then flies too close to the sun and plummets to his death after his wings melt

Associated with:ArrogancePlaying with fire

Iccarus

“To be or not to be”From Shakespeare’s Hamlet referring to

Hamlet’s speech in which he contemplates death

Often cited when a big decision presents itself“His Achilles’ heal”

Taken from Homer’s The Iliad in reference to one of the main characters Achilles, whose one weakness is his heal

Usually in reference to one fatal flaw in a character or person.

Common Literary Allusions

“That’s a Catch-22”From Joseph Heller’s book Catch 22 which is

about airplane pilots in WWII who have to act crazy to get out of flying missions but are accused of faking being crazy and have to fly any way

Famous for damned if you do, damned if you don’t

“The situation was positively Dickensian” Alluded to novels by Charles Dickens in which

conditions are terrible and often dirty

Common Literary Allusions

Iccarus image: http://revolutioncontinues.com/wp-content/uploads/Daedalus-and-icarus1.jpg

Odysseus image: www.moyak.com/papers/odysseus.jpg Lady Macbeth Image: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-

Wd7-JfmR6c8/TZz63JlfXJI/AAAAAAAAA6U/E50yZlbaS-g/s1600/sargent_macbeth.jpg

Sir Galahad Image http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Sir_Galahad_(Watts).jpg/220px-Sir_Galahad_(Watts).jpg

Romeo image: http://www.meredith.edu/english/walton/images/romeo_juliet_baz.jpg

Lancelot image: http://www.sir-lancelot.co.uk/lancelot-images/lancelot-3.jpg Oedipus Rex image:

http://sumnonrabidus.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/oedipus-rex-gay-teachers-and-counting-no-mortal-%E2%80%9Chappy%E2%80%9D/

King Lear image: http://www.pathguy.com/lear300.jpg Captain Ahab: http://www.realmagick.com/captain-ahab/

Image Reference Page