Was recently discussing with a friend how the writers of shows like The Simpsons, when incorporating literary references, know which ones will be recognized by their average viewers. Which of course got us thinking about what books (poems, plays) might qualify as literary memes.
Following is our by no means comprehensive list, which was more complicated to compile than we thought because while there are a TON of works that have given rise to a single notable quote, idea, or theme, we decided that a true literary meme has to contribute something more meaningful: establish a lasting genre, define a ubiquitous plot device, or contribute an enduring trope. Moreover, it needs to be something that people know fairly intimately, so that they are capable of appreciating the context of the reference. (Everyone knows "My kingdom for a horse!" but how many people actually know the source or context? See what I mean?)
So, how many of these literary memes would *you* recognize if they popped up on an
episode of The Simpsons?
1. The Bible (King James version). The grandaddy of all
pop culture touchstones! The source material for endless works of art (music,
painting, etc.), quotes, philosophical disputes, and literary themes/metaphors.
You can read European literature without being familiar with the Bible, but you’re
going to miss out on a lot of critical context.
2. Greek/Roman mythology; Metamorphoses
(Ovid). Not sure these are considered works of literature, but they
certainly tell stories – stories which continue to influence art, philosophy,
literature, the occasional Disney movie, and why we know that a planet named Jupiter
is probably hot.
3. The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales
(Jacob Grimm); Aesop’s Fables (Aesop). If the source material isn’t
biblical or mythological, it’s likely to be one of Aesop or Grimm, tales that
we’re still using as metaphors for such common life lessons as “don’t be greedy”
(Hansel & Gretl) and “don’t kill the golden goose” (The Golden Goose).
4. The Odyssey, Homer. To this day,
we still refer to epic journeys as “odysseys,” and we expect everyone to be
familiar with the major plot points: the lotus eaters, the sirens, long-suffering
Penelope.
5. The Inferno, Dante. Thank Dante
for creating our enduring cultural perception of hell, including such enduring
concepts as fire/brimstone, multiple levels, and customized punishments for
specific sins.
6. William Shakespeare (especially Henry V,
Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, and Othello). Shakespeare created the
ur-texts for so many enduringly popular themes/genres: patriotism & heroism
(Henry V), betrayal (Othello), lust for power (Richard III, MacBeth), Venus
meets Mars (Much Ado About Nothing), doomed love (Romeo & Juliet), romantic
farce (Midsummer Night’s Dream). And then he went on to create the ur-quotes
that we use to explicate every imaginable situation, from “The lady doth
protest too much” to “A plague upon both your houses” to “The course of true
love never did run true.” Truly the OG of literary references.
7. The Prince, Machiavelli. Still
being used by politicians and leaders to guide their decision-making.
8. Charles Dickens (especially Great Expectations, David Copperfield, and A Christmas Carol). While his tales aren’t as enduringly influential as Shakespeare, media still loves riffing off his greatest tropes (a shout out to Barbara Kingsolver’s recent Demon Copperhead), and his A Christmas Carol is basically responsible for our current conception of Christmas as a holiday devoted to doing good.
9. Frankenstein (Mary Shelly); Dracula
(Bram Stoker). Can you imagine a world in which our pantheon of monsters doesn’t
include these headliners?
10.
Jane Austen (especially Pride &
Prejudice and Emma). Her contribution to pop culture?
Establishing some of the most satisfying and enduring tropes of romantic
literature, to include (1) dislike transforms into love, (2) friendship
transforms into love, and (3) constant affection wins out over infatuation in
the end. Don’t know who Mr. Darcy is? You may be the only one.
11. Agatha Christie (especially Murder on the
Orient Express, And Then There Were None). One might think of Christie
as the Shakespeare of crime, in recognition of the extent to which her novels
have become the ur-texts that inform pretty much every example of crime fiction
(literary or TV/movie) that has come since. Recently I spotted “Murder on the
Orient Express”-brand tea
12. Sherlock Holmes (especially The Hound of the
Baskervilles), Arthur Conan Doyle. A pop culture reference so pervasive,
he can be summoned by the sight of a deerstalker cap, an inverness cape, or a
magnifying glass! Beyond these visual references, Doyle’s detective established
such enduring tropes as (1) using evidence to solve crimes, (2) pairing detectives
with sidekicks, and (3) positing that ghosts/supernatural occurrences usually
have logical explanations. (Which, come to think of it, makes Sherlock Holmes
the ur-text for basically every episode of Scooby Doo.)
13. Moby Dick, Herman Melville. My son
– definitely not a reader - once said to me, “Calculus is my white whale.” Point,
set, match.
14. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee.
Not the most powerful book ever written about racism, but because it’s the one
we all read in school, it’s the one we tend to turn to when we need a good
metaphor for “don’t judge a man until you climb inside of his skin and walk
around in it.”
15. 1984 (George Orwell); Animal Farm
(George Orwell); Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury); The Handmaiden’s Tale
(Margaret Atwood); Lord of the Flies (William Golding); The
Lottery (Shirley Jackson). Used interchangeably as ur-texts for
potential dystopian futures. There’s a definite pop culture expectation that,
for each of these, people possess a pre-loaded understanding of (1) what went
wrong, (2) how it went wrong, and (3) most egregious outcomes.
16. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll. Almost impossible to count the ways in which this book has pervaded our universal consciousness, from politicians with Cheshire cat grins to “diving down a rabbit hole.”
18. The Princess Bride, William Goldman.
One of those cultural phenomena that has achieved pop culture meme status as people have come to appreciate
the incredible density of useful quotes and applicable situations the book contains.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Catch22, Kurt Vonnegut
- Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
- Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
- Dr. Faustus, Christopher Marlowe
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, H.G. Wells
- The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
- The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein
- The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
- Harry Potter series, J.R. Rowling
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
- Oedipus Rex, Sophocles
- The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
- The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
- The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe
- The Road Less Traveled, Robert Frost
- The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
- The Telltale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe
7.
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