Picture of Dorian Gray III: Ch. 3-4

As is typical for upper-class society during this time, Wilde was familiar with classical literature and culture. He sometimes uses allusions in order to bring to life an image otherwise presented purely through descriptive language. For instance, when discussing how mistakes make one young, Lord Henry summons the image of  "catching the mad music of Pleasure, wearing, one might fancy, her wine-stained robe and wreath of ivy, danced like a Bacchante over the hills of life" (30). The phrases "mad music of Pleasure," "wine-stained robe" and "danced [...] over the hills" combine to form an image that any educated reader of the time would obtain immediately from the word "Bacchante." The Bacchantes were a group of women who were priests of Bacchus, and they would participate in massive orgies (thus, "mad music of Pleasure") atop Mount Cithaeron ("over the hills") devoted to Bacchus (explaining the "wine-stained robe"). The entire image Lord Henry presents is encapsulated by the single word "Bacchante" for any educated reader. The word "Bacchante," in fact, holds even more power, because the Bacchantes' frenzy is beyond what a less educated reader would perceive merely from the adjective "mad." If the Bacchantes came upon a small animal such as a rabbit, they would tear it to pieces by hand, leaving a bloody mess in their wake; if they, by chance, encountered a man in their frenzy, then at best the man would be castrated - at worst, he could end with the same fate as the rabbit. The description provided by "Bacchante" goes beyond what the other words creating this image provide; in this way, Wilde uses allusions to enhance the intensity of his imagery.