Editing The Chronicles of Amber (section)

==Literary influences==
===Inspirations and sources===
The 1946 short novel ''[[The Dark World]]'' by [[Henry Kuttner]] and [[C.L. Moore]]<ref name="the_dark_world">Kuttner, Henry. [http://www.manybooks.net/titles/kuttnerhother07dark_world.html ''The Dark World''] (downloadable text from [http://www.manybooks.net ManyBooks.net]).</ref> was acknowledged by Zelazny as one inspiration. Similarities appear in the theme and in specific instances: some character names are common to both works, and they share the fantasy literary device of moving a present day, realistic character from the familiar world into a fantastical, alternate reality world, exposing the character to this shift as the reader experiences it. Zelazny is quoted as saying:

{{cquote|... the Kuttner story which most impressed me in those most impressionable days was his short novel ''The Dark World''. I returned to it time and time, reading it over and over again, drawn by its colorful, semi-mythic characters and strong action ... looking back, Kuttner and [C. L.] [[C. L. Moore|Moore]] — and, specifically, ''The Dark World'' — were doubtless a general influence on my development as a writer. As for their specific influences—particularly on my Amber series—I never thought about it until Jane Lindskold started digging around and began pointing things out to me.<ref>''Amberzine'' No. 5, [[Phage Press]]</ref>}}

Zelazny admitted that the series was also inspired by [[Philip José Farmer]]'s ''[[World of Tiers]]'' series, specifically the concepts of a powerful family in  rivalry over the fate of multiple universes.<ref name="CallMeRoger">"...And Call Me Roger": The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 2, by Christopher S. Kovacs. In: ''The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 2: Power & Light'', NESFA Press, 2009.</ref>

Given Zelazny's academic interest in the Medieval European period, it is not a stretch to see a possible influence in [[Henry Adams]]' 1905 work ''Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres'', wherein he discusses the building of Chartres Cathedral, and the tidal-islet of [[Mont Saint-Michel]], on the Normandy coast of France. However, these possible influences are not supported by Zelazny's own commentary about the origins of the Pattern. He indicated that he loosely based the Pattern in part on the [[Tree of Life]] or [[Sephirot|Sephiroth of Kaballah]], and preferred to allow the reader to imagine what the actual Pattern looked like.<ref name=CallMeRoger/>

More generally, the series draws from many mythological sources as inspirations, especially [[Celtic mythology|Celtic]] (see [[Tír na nÓg]]), [[Norse mythology]], and Arthurian legend. Zelazny cited Jessie L. Weston's 1921 book ''From Ritual to Romance'' as a key influence: it examined the pagan and Christian roots of the legends of King Arthur, the Wasteland myths, and the Holy Grail. For example, the Celtic Wasteland myth ties the barrenness of a land to a curse that a hero must lift; Corwin's curse is in part responsible for the Black Road.<ref name=CallMeRoger/>

Philosophical texts have influenced the series as well: many similarities exist between Amber and [[Plato's Republic]] (see the [[Allegory of the cave]]) and the classical problems of [[metaphysics]], virtuality, [[solipsism]], [[logic]], [[possible worlds]], [[probability]], [[Doppelgänger|doubles]] and [[essence]]s are also repeatedly reflected on.

The references made by Zelazny could be considered foreshadowing. For example, the name [[Ganelon]] was taken from the [[Matter of France]], a body of classic French legends and literature that includes the ''[[Song of Roland]]''. Throughout the Matter of France, Ganelon was often called "Ganelon the Traitor"; thus, for readers familiar with the original Ganelon, Zelazny's use of the name foreshadowed events in ''[[The Hand of Oberon]]'' where Ganelon purposefully loses a battle to spite [[Corwin (The Chronicles of Amber)|Corwin]]. In the ''Song of Roland'', Ganelon was also the stepfather of the protagonist [[Roland]], which Zelazny may have used to foreshadow the relationship between Corwin and Ganelon at the conclusion of ''The Hand of Oberon''.

===Allusions to Shakespeare===
Throughout the Chronicles, Zelazny alludes extensively to plays by [[William Shakespeare]]. It is not stated in the series whether the characters (who are usually well-read) are merely paraphrasing the bard for their own amusement, or if Shakespeare himself was telling stories that are reflections of Amber's history and future. It is implied that both variants are true simultaneously. The allusions include:
* [[List of The Chronicles of Amber characters#Oberon|Oberon]], the King of Amber, is also the name of [[Oberon|King of the Fairies]] from ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'', although Shakespeare did not invent the character.
* The [[Forest of Arden]] is also the setting of Shakespeare's ''[[As You Like It]]''.
* There are greater thematic allusions in the Chronicles, mostly to ''Hamlet''. Corwin describes himself at the beginning of ''The Courts of Chaos'' as the "mad prince" of Amber, drawing a parallel between himself and the mad prince of Denmark. In addition, Corwin is contacted by the "ghost" of Oberon several times (before realizing that Oberon still lives), an obvious parallel to the plot of ''Hamlet''. When dining with Lorraine, Corwin even refers to the attempted Trump contact by Oberon as a message from his "father's ghost".
* The rivalry between Corwin and Eric roughly parallels the [[Wars of the Roses]], as portrayed in Shakespeare's [[Shakespearean history#"The "Wars of the Roses" cycle|"Wars of the Roses" cycle]]. Corwin's symbol, a silver rose, echoes the [[House of York]]'s symbol, a white rose, and Eric's chosen color, red, echoes the [[House of Lancaster]]'s symbol, a red rose.
* "Ill-met by moonlight", Deirdre's response to her rescue in ''Nine Princes in Amber'' (chapter 4): "Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania", is said by Oberon in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.
* "To sleep, perchance to dream... Yeah, there's a thing that rubs", Corwin muses in ''Nine Princes in Amber'' (chapter 6). "To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub", is from the [[To be, or not to be]] soliloquy in ''[[Hamlet]]''.
* Very early in ''Nine Princes in Amber'' Corwin thinks to himself, "In the state of Denmark there was the odor of decay", a reference to "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark", a famous line from ''Hamlet''.
* When Corwin first meets Eric in ''Nine Princes in Amber'', Eric complains "It's true, that uneasy-lies-the-head bit". "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" is the final line in a monologue spoken by Henry IV in Act III, Scene i, of ''[[Henry IV, part 2]]'' wherein Henry is pondering how sleep comes to even the most humble peasant easier than it does to the great.
* When he receives Eric's offer of peace in ''The Guns of Avalon'', Corwin muses "...I believe you, never doubt it, for we are all of us honorable men" (chapter 8). In Marc Antony's funeral oration in ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]'', he says, "For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all; all honourable men".
* "So Childe Random to the dark tower came", Random recounts in his story of how he tried to rescue Brand. At the end of Act IV of ''[[King Lear]]'', Edgar, disguised as the Poor Tom, the crazy beggar, babbles "Child Rowland to the dark tower came", an allusion itself to the [[fairy tale]] of [[Childe Rowland]].
* Corwin, when describing the royal family to Ganelon in ''Sign of the Unicorn'', says that Oberon had two other sons with Benedict's mother Cymnea, the first being Osric, who shares his name with a courtier in ''Hamlet''.
* "Good night, sweet Prince", Brand says to Benedict in ''The Hand of Oberon'' (chapter 13). These are the words that [[Horatio (character)|Horatio]] speaks at the death of ''Hamlet''.
* After watching his "dream" from Tir-na Nog'th play out in Amber in ''The Courts of Chaos'' (chapter 1), Corwin muses, "I looked back once to the empty place where my dream had come true. Such is the stuff". He alludes to Act IV, scene 1 of ''[[The Tempest]]'', where, after causing spirits he has summoned to disappear, [[Prospero]] delivers the famous speech that includes the line "We are such stuff / As dreams are made on, and our little life / Is rounded by a sleep".