An ALLUSION in a literary text is a reference, either explicit or ...

no danger of 'blaspheming' by citing scripture out of context or for one's own ends. For
example, Dr. Lanyon likens the early relationship between himself and Jekyll to that of
Damon and Pythias, whose friendship was so strong that the former put up his life as bail
for the latter, sentenced to death by King Dionysius. The term, then, connotes self‐ sacrifice
and altruism. Although former schoolfellows and fellow medical practitioners, after a
lifetime of shared confidences, Jekyll and Lanyon are no longer "Damon and Pythias";
indeed, Jekyll has replaced Lanyon as his bosom companion with his own creation, for
whom he is prepared to sacrifice all that he has attained in life, and even life itself.
Ultimately, however, Jekyll sacrifices himself in order to destroy the menace he has
unleashed upon the world.
The "captives at Philippi" is probably both a classical and a Shakespearean (literary)
allusion since, at the end of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and after the battles at that
Macedonian city in 42 B. C., the captives (former supporters of the conspirators Cassius and
Brutus) were released by the magnanimous victors, Antony and Octavius, given liberty
instead of death as traitors. Hyde is unexpectedly (and undeservedly) liberated from his
prison to cause further havoc.
Thus, we may conclude that Stevenson is utilizing allusions coherently, to underscore
certain fundamental themes of the novella. Although these underlying meanings appear
coded to modern readers, they were transparent to educated nineteenth‐century readers.
From: Allusions in Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde(1886)
Philip V. Allingham, Contributing Editor, Victorian Web; Faculty of Education, Lakehead
University, Thunder Bay, Ontario
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