Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

A literary allusion is a tool employed by a writer for referencing a culturally significant idea or theme from history, another piece of literature, a folk tale, a work of art, or a piece of popular culture. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Oates alludes to the medieval European tradition of the Death and the Maiden, an archetypal theme in art, reflected in musical scores, poetry, wood blocks, and paintings. The theme represents death’s inevitability and the irony of its corrosive effects on the vanity of youth. Oates expresses her allusion to Death and the Maiden through imagery. The repeating image of hair is a medieval symbol for vanity and often a focal point in Death and the Maiden depictions. Arnold’s mirrored glasses and constant smirking habit create the visage of a skeletal death-head. Most prominent is Connie’s arc, which begins in her own pride and youthful vanity and ends in her sudden acceptance and acquiescence of her fated demise.