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.
Historical References
There are so many historical shout-outs in Sentimental Education that you might begin to feel a little post-traumatic stress just trying to keep track. Our advice? Don't. (Unless you're writing your dissertation on Flaubert or something crazy like that.) If you can understand the basics—which we've laid out for you in our section on "Setting"—you'll be just fine.
Literary and Philosophical References
- Plato (1.2.5)
- Walter Scott (1.2.7)
- Victor Hugo (1.4.83), (1.8.155), (2.12.133)
- Shakespeare (1.5.230)
- Macbeth (1.6.43)
- Molière (1.5.20), (1.8.183), (1.8.367)
- Voltaire (1.5.85), (1.8.125)
- Madame de Staël (1.5.85)
- Thomas Robert Malthus (1.8.118)
- Charles Fourier (1.8.122)
- Honoré de Balzac (1.8.155), (1.8.297)
- Lord Byron (1.8.155)
- Machiavelli (1.8.235)
- Alfred De Musset (1.9.409)
Literary Protagonists
- Werther (1.2.20), (2.19.39)
- Eugène de Rastignac (1.2.46)
- Phèdre (1.9.411)
- Dido (1.9.411)
- Romeo (1.9.411)
- Don Quixote (2.12.84)
Painters
- Michelangelo (1.4.104)
- Rubens (1.7.173)
- Titian (1.8.238)
- Eugène Delacroix (2.12.133)