Allusions,+References,+Mythology

**Allusions to Literature and History**
I think it's interesting to consider the implications of literary allusions - why does the author choose to insert specific ones, and exclude others? What do they reveal about the character, or some of the themes of the text? Also, I think that this could be a convenient spot to catalog all of the extraneous references made to other fictional, historical characters and personages - as well as to give some information on them.

__St. Oswald__



p. 93: "The face on the stele disturbed me. The boy king had been a great warrior, had died a horrible and dramatic death. He was larger than life, a gigantic presence from the past. But thirteen hundred years later he still looked like someone I knew, or would have liked to know."

[|Info on St. Oswald] - " King Oswald's body was hacked to pieces by the victors and his head and arms stuck on poles. An old legend has one arm taken to his sacred ash tree (//Oswald's Tree//) by his constant companion, a pet raven. Where it fell a holy well sprang up. Thus, Oswald came to be reverred as a Christian martyr and his dismembered limbs eventually found there way into various relic collections in monasteries around the country."

Hilary is fascinated by the history of Medieval England - especially the story of the young king, Oswald. Why do you think Oswald in particular is so fascinating to Hilary? Why does he make him his patron saint of sorts, even praying to him for strength?

__Scheherezade__

Referenced on p. 26: "Finn laughed at that, and I felt a tiny surge of triumph: I was //Scheherazade//, desperate to keep him amused." [| Wiki entry on Scheherezade] [| Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherezade] - Musical score based upon the fairy tales from //A Thousand and One Nights//.

Questions to consider: Does the fact that H. identifies himself with a female character reveal anything about how he defines gender? Is it noteworthy that H. does this, or irrelevant? Is it more or less likely for a woman to identify with a man? What does this reference suggest about the relationship between H. and Finn? Are they equals?

Painting by Edmund Dulac

__Venus__

Referenced on p. 27: "He might have been a product of spontaneous generation, have emerged from the sea like //Venus//. Neither would particularly have surprised me."

Questions to consider: Why might H. associate Finn with Venus? Why does H. compare Finn to a distinctly feminine Goddess? Do you think that this allusion simply refers to the imagined creation of Finn, or is there something else going on? What connotations does the name Venus have?

//The Birth of Venus//, Botticelli

__Dark Ages__

As far as comparisons to history, on p. 83 Hillary says: "Romance aside, no one with half a brain could be nostalgic for life in the Dark Ages. There were too many ways to live and die miserably in those days, particularly if you were a peasant...Mr. Barnes was always keen to drive home the contrast between our charmed existence at St. Oswalds and the brutal realities of history."

//A Sick Girl//, Mikhail Nesterov

This was interesting because Hillary is clearly jealous of Finn's simple life. Even after seeing Finn near death in bed, he still goes back to live a peasant life in the hut.

__**Shakespeare**__



p. 63 "Finn looked at me, as if considering the quality of my thoughts, then stood up to signal an end to today's line of inquiry. The cat stretched and twined itself around his legs in easy ownership before returning to its place by the fire. //Oh, that I were the cat upon that hearth!"//

This refers to the famous balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet,

Romeo: "O that I were a glove upon that hand,/ That I might touch that cheek!" (2.2.24,25)

By linking Hilary with Romeo, the idealistic and capricious young lover, does this reference imply that Hilary is truly in love with Finn, or simply infatuated with him? Or, does it simply signal budding emotions which even Hilary does not fully understand?