The House of the Spirits Allusions & Cultural References

References to Catholicism

• Saint Sebastián (1.1)
• Jesuit, Society of Jesus (1.9, 4.99)
• The Virgin Mary (1.18, 5.3)
• Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus Christ (1.19, 5.45, 5.102)
• San Antonio/ Saint Anthony (1.21, 3.1)
• Our Fathers and Hail Marys (3.3)
• The chariot of fire in which the prophet Elias rides to heaven (4.59)
• Three Kings, shepherds, Bethlehem (5.119)
• The Lives of the Saints (6.22)
• Franciscan (12.20)

Other Religious and Philosophical References

• Brahman (4.27)
• Gurdjieff (4.94)
• Rosicrucian (4.94, 7.4, 7.58)
• Theosophists (7.4)
• Seventh Day Adventists (7.4)
• The I Ching (6.24)

References to Greek and Roman Mythology

• Olympus, Olympian gods (3.64, 7.2)
• The Acropolis, Venus and Adonis, and Cupid (7.31)
• Aphrodite (10.67)
• Bacchus (13.72)

References to Popular Children's Literature and Film

• Sinbad (4.104)
• Robin Hood (4.104)
• The Black Pirate (4.104)
• Treasury of Youth (4.104)
• Tarzan (9.64)

Literary and Philosophical References

• The Spanish Royal Academy (4.104)
• The Poet is a reference to Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda. See more about Neruda in "What's up with the Epigraph?" (6.42, 7.51, 7.103, 9.46, 13.80)
• Rubén Dario (7.17)
• Jean-Paul Sartre, the European Existentialists, Beauvoir (7.33, 7.90)
• The Marquis de Sade, La Philosophie dans le boudoir (8.9)

Historical References

• Leonardo da Vinci (1.20)
• The Incas (1.20)
• Versailles (3.64, 7.61)
• The figure of the Candidate and the President is likely a reference to Salvador Allende, elected President of Chile in 1970. (1.20, 5.102, 6.38, 10.73
• Tránsito Soto's place of business, the Christopher Columbus, is named for the European explorer (4.32, 4.45, 10.65, 14.62)
• Spartan, Sparta (5.90)
• Caligula-esque (7.25)
• Louis XV (8.16)
• Mahatma Gandhi (9.23)
• The Founding Father in the portrait in Pedro Tercero's office is most likely Bernardo O'Higgins, a leader in Chile's war of independence from Spain. (12.23)
• Djakarta, now called Jakarta (12.91)

Political References

• Marxism (1.20, 12.15)
• Bolshevik (2.73, 5.102)
• Communism (4.99, 5.102)
• The novel contains a myriad of references to Socialism, beginning in Chapter 4 and continuing through the end of the book.
• Fascists (13.73)

Pop Culture References

• The Charleston (2.72)
• Fréderic Chopin (5.4, 6.40, 10.25)
• Playing cricket (5.93)
• Victrola (6.2)
• Chagall (9.11)
• The Ode to Joy (Epilogue.17)