A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Allusions & Cultural References

When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.

Literary and Philosophical References

References and quotes from the Catholic Mass appear throughout the text, as do uncountable images of the Virgin Mary..
Dante Alighieri (Stephen’s aunt Dante, a recurring character in Chapter One)
Gaius Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico (1.4.23)
Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo (2.1.7, also, any time Mercedes is mentioned)
Lord Byron (2.2.22, 2.3.31)
Captain Marryat (2.3.28)
Cardinal Newman (2.3.29, 5.1.10)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (2.3.30)
Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Art Thou Pale for Weariness" (2.4.21, 3.1.3)
Joseph Addison (3.2.13)
Victor Hugo (4.2.8)
Louis Veuillot (4.2.9)
Gerhart Hauptmann (5.1.10)
Guido Cavalcanti (5.1.10)
Henrik Ibsen (5.1.10)
Ben Jonson (5.1.10, 5.1.43)
Aristotle (5.1.10, 5.1.38, 5.1.124)
Ovid, Metamorphoses (5.1.17, see also "Epigraph")
Horace (5.1.18)
The national poet of Ireland represented in the statue is Thomas Moore (5.1.19-20)
St. Thomas Aquinas (5.1.35, then throughout Chapter Five)
Epictetus (5.1.38, 5.1.61)
Jean Jacques Rousseau (5.1.104)
Plato (5.1.134)
Charles Darwin , The Origin of Species (5.1.134)
Venantius Fortunatus, Vexilla Regis, a religious hymn (5.1.136)
William Butler Yeats, The Countess Cathleen (5.3.8)
Thomas Nashe, Summer’s Last Will and Testament (5.3.55)
The Bible, character of St. John the Baptist (5.4.3)
William Blake, "William Bond," (5.4.11)
William Butler Yeats, "Michael Robartes Remembers Forgotten Beauty," "Michael Robartes Remembers Forgotten Beauty," The Wind Among the Reeds (5.4.25)

Charles Stuart Parnell (first occurs in 1.1.7; referenced innumerable times throughout the book)
Michael Davitt (1.1.7)
Wars of the Roses (1.2.19)
Kitty O’Shea (1.3.49-55)
Bishop Lanigan (1.3.62)
Terence Bellew MacManus (1.3.62)
St. Francis Xavier (1.4.67, 3.1.15-17)
Buck and Burnchapel Whaley (5.1.29-30)
St. Stephen (5.4.9)