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 Figures
- Martin Luther (4.3.2) (8.10.30)
- Friedrich Engels (4.5.1)
- Sigmund Freud (4.10.16) (6.6.9) (7.2.10)
- Christopher Marlowe (5.9.2)
- William Shakespeare (5.9.2) (7.1.20)
- Irving Howe (5.9.10)
- Thomas Hardy (5.9.10)
- A.H. Maslow (5.9.11)
- Bernard Shaw (7.1.17)
- Plato (7.2.8)
- Percy Bysshe Shelley (7.5.4)
- William Blake (8.9.29)
- Betty Friedan (9.7.29)
- Kate Millet (9.7.29)
- Germaine Greer (9.7.29)
- Shulamith Firestone (9.7.29)
Literary and Sociological Texts
- Friedrich Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State (4.5.1)
- Geoffrey Chaucer, Parliament of Foules (4.10.21)
- Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (5.9.9)
- Walt Kelly, Pogo (5.10.5-6)
- Brandon Thomas, Charley's Aunt (6.7.1)
- John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women (7.1.3)
- Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man (7.2.10)
- Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (7.5.1)
- Martha Finley, Elsie Dinsmore (9.7.29)
- Edith Maude Hull, The Son of the Sheik (9.7.29)
Individual Characters Named from Literature, Folklore, and Myth
- Humpty Dumpty (3.4.25)
- Aphrodite (3.2.6)
- Clarissa, from Samuel Richardson's Clarissa (3.2.6)
- Zeus (5.16.1)
- Atropos (6.9.26)
- Sleeping Beauty (6.9.26)
- Uriah Heep, from Charles Dickens's David Copperfield (7.1.3)
- Rhadamanthus (7.1.3)
- The Cheshire Cat, from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (7.1.3)
- Grendel's Mother, from Beowulf (7.1.9)
- Faust (7.1.14)
- Anna Karenina, from Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (8.7.24)
- Cinderella (8.8.1)
- Brynhildr (8.9.31) (9.6.1) (9.6.4)
- Mistresses Doasyouwouldbedoneby and Bedonebyasyoudid, from Charles Kingsley's The Water Babies (8.9.33)
- Baba Yaga (8.9.1)
Biblical References
- Jesus of Nazareth (1.8.2)
- The Angel of Pestilence (5.4.1)
- The Garden of Eden (5.17.2)
- The Prophetess Deborah (7.1.17)
- Christ on the Cross (7.2.8)
- Moses (7.2.10)
- 1 John 1.8 (7.3.1)
- Eve (8.9.19)
- Jael's name is a recurring biblical reference; the Old Testament Jael appears in Judges 4.18-24 (throughout)
Historical Figures
- Chiang Kai-shek (2.10.1)
- Soong Mei-ling, a.k.a. Madame Chiang (2.10.1)
- Genghis Khan (4.5.1) (4.11.5) (9.6.3)
- The Praetorian Guard (5.6.3)
- Aristophanes (5.6.3)
- Marie of Romania (6.5.29)
- Christopher Columbus (7.1.20)
- Alger Hiss (7.1.20)
- Mata Hari (7.1.20)
- Thomas Nashe (7.2.4)
- Moses (7.2.10)
- Joan of Arc (3.2.84) (7.5.12)
- Galileo (7.5.12)
Symphonies and Concertos
- Handel's Messiah: "Thou Art Gone Up on High" (2.8.6); "I Know that My Redeemer Liveth" (4.1.1-3)
- Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenburg Concertos (8.9.1)
Pop Culture
- Mae West (4.5.1) (9.3.1)
- Marlene Dietrich (4.5.1)
- Star Trek (4.5.1)
- John Wayne (4.13.19)
- Maureen O'Hara (4.13.19)
- Kirk Douglas (6.5.28)
- Buster Crabbe, aka Flash Gordon (7.1.17)
- Rodan (7.1.11)
- King Kong (7.1.12)
- Linus (7.2.10)
- Greta Garbo (8.2.5) (8.7.24)
- Victoria de los Angeles (9.3.3)
- Jean Arthur (9.3.1)
- Humphrey Bogart (9.4.8) (9.4.25)
- James Bond (9.4.8)
- Superman (9.4.8)
- Douglas Fairbanks (9.4.8)