A list of all the literary works that inspired Red Dead Redemption 2. For more details, visit the Table of Contents or TL;DR. The tags [probable] and [possible] mean exactly what they say. This list is still in progress. Last updated 5/1/25.
Poetry
- Alighieri, Dante: The Inferno
- Anonymous: “King Arthur and King Cornwall”
- Chestre, Sir Thomas: “Sir Launfal” [probable]
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Idylls of the King
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson: “The Lady of Shalott”
- Marvell, Andrew: “On Paradise Lost”
- Milton, John: Paradise Lost
- Milton, John: Paradise Regained
- Shakespeare, William: “Sonnet 18”
- Shelley, Percy Bysshe: “Ozymandias”
- Shelley, Percy Bysshe: “Peter Bell the Third”
Drama
- Lord Byron: Cain: A Mystery
- Congreve, William: The Mourning Bride
- Ibsen, Henrik: Hedda Gabler
- Ibsen, Henrik: When We Dead Awaken [possible]
- Shakespeare, William: Hamlet
- Shakespeare, William: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Shakespeare, William: Richard III
- Shakespeare, William: Romeo and Juliet
- Shakespeare, William: The Tempest
- Shakespeare, William: The Winter’s Tale
- Tourneur, Cyril; or Thomas Middleton: The Revenger’s Tragedy
Fiction
- Anonymous: Mort Le Roi Artu
- Anonymous: The Quest of the Holy Grail
- Anonymous; various: The Mabinogion
- Beecher, Henry Ward: Pleasant Talk About Fruits, Flowers and Farming
- Brand, Max: Destry Rides Again
- Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights
- Dostoevsky, Fyodor: The Brothers Karamazov [possible]
- Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan: Sherlock Holmes
- Eidson, Thomas: St. Agnes’ Stand
- Everett, Percival: God’s Country [possible]
- Faulkner, William: Absalom, Absalom!
- Gogol, Nikolai: “The Mysterious Portrait” [probable]
- Gogol, Nikolai: “St John’s Eve” [possible]
- Hardy, Thomas: Jude the Obscure [probable]
- Irving, Washington: “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
- Irving, Washington: “Rip Van Winkle”
- Keyes, Daniel: “Flowers for Algernon” [probable]
- Lee, Harper: To Kill a Mockingbird
- Lippard, George: The Mysteries of Florence (also published as The Ladye Annabel)
- London, Jack: The Call of the Wild
- Mallory, Sir Thomas: Le Morte Darthur
- Mitchell, Margaret: Gone with the Wind
- Polidori, John William: “The Vampyre”
- Rowling, J.K.: Harry Potter
- Shelley, Mary: Frankenstein
- Stowe, Harriet Beecher: The Minister’s Wooing [probable]
- Townsend, Sue: Adrian Mole [probable]
- de Troyes, Chrétien: “The Story of the Grail”
Mythology
- The Bible:
- Genesis
- Deuteronomy
- Ruth
- Kings
- Job
- Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs)
- Isaiah
- Jeremiah
- Hosea
- Amos
- Obadiah [possible]
- Micah
- Matthew
- John
- Revelation
- Greek myths:
- Acrisius and Proetus
- Bacchus and the Bacchae
- Cassandra
- The Elysian fields
- Eris [possible]
- Hera
- Orpheus
- Prometheus
- Sisyphus
- The Trojan War, inc. Helen, Achilles, Hector
Philosophy
- Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics
- Nietzsche, Friedrich: The Gay Science
People
Writers
- Arvin, Newton [probable]
- Byron, George Gordon (Lord)
- Marston, John [possible]
- Plato
- Trollope, Anthony
Other People Associated with the Romantic Movement
- Byron, Anne Isabella (Lady)
- Clairmont, Claire [probable]
- Gamba, Pietro (Count)
- Trelawny, Edward John
- Williams, Edward [possible]
Scientists
- Anning, Mary
Artists
- Bierstadt, Albert
- Grimshaw, John Atkinson [probable]
- Pyle, Howard [probable]
Other
- Moffat, Geraldine
Historical
- The Heaven’s Gate cult