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Exploring Red Dead Redemption II’s literary allusions and influences.

  • Table of Contents
  • Most Recent
  • Index & TL;DR
  • Works & People
  • Resources
  • About
  • On Interpretation
  • Table of Contents
  • Most Recent
  • Index & TL;DR
  • Works & People
  • Resources
  • About
  • On Interpretation
  • Arthur Morgan riding through a green field in the Heartlands towards the rising sun.
    IX. Various Works

    More Secrets & Mysteries: The Strange Man’s Cabin in RDR2

    April 9, 2025 /

    As should be apparent by now, RDR2’s use of literature ranges from deep and extensive to brief and glancing. Sometimes, the writers allude to a work broadly rather than dealing with its themes.

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  • Arthur Morgan in the bayou on an Andalusian horse. He's silhouetted against the setting sun and surrounded by trees.
    I. Paradise Lost

    Pleasance and Eden: More Allusions to Paradise Lost in RDR2

    August 28, 2024 /

    I've discussed Paradise Lost in some depth now, but there are still quite a few allusions that didn't fit elsewhere. This also seems like the best place to discuss the other allusions to the Romantics in the game. Here's a roundup of the essays, followed by a list of the other references the game makes.

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  • Arthur Morgan galloping across Bard's Crossing at sunset on a white roan Nokota.
    I. Paradise Lost

    To Turn Towards Death: The Secret Mythology in RDR2

    August 14, 2024 /

    One of the writers’ apparent motivations in writing Red Dead Redemption 2 was to make Red Dead Redemption even more sad. The way the first game is retconned in the second one can be annoying because of the mismatch in details, but at times, it’s very effective ...

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Categories

  • i. Meta
  • I. Paradise Lost
  • II. Paradise Regained
  • III. Arthurian Legend
  • IV. Interlude: Desperado
  • V. Wuthering Heights
  • VI. The Bible
  • VII. The Inferno
  • VIII. Shakespeare
  • IX. Various Works

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