The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

ments, cards, rich clothing, etc., onto huge heaps
and setting fi re to them. Savonarola’s extreme
views brought him into confl ict with the pope and
resulted in riots throughout the city. Savonarola
was eventually arrested, tortured, and hanged.
Tom Wolfe’s novel <strong>The</strong> Bonfi re of the Vanities (1987),
fi lmed in 1990, makes fl eeting references to the
events surrounding Savonarola’s tempestuous
career. Some members of the Christian right call regularly
for a modern bonfi re of the vanities.
Bonnie and Clyde (bonee, klid) Archetype of a
pair of outlaws, one male and one female. <strong>The</strong>
original Bonnie and Clyde were Bonnie Parker
(1911–34) and Clyde Barrow (1909–34), who
embarked on a four- year career of murder and
bank robbery in the southwestern United States in
the early 1930s. <strong>The</strong>y were eventually ambushed
and shot dead by Texas Rangers in Louisiana in
May 1934. <strong>The</strong>ir bloodthirsty reign of terror was
subsequently romanticized in the 1967 fi lm Bonnie
and Clyde, in which they were played by Faye Dunaway
and Warren Beatty. <strong>The</strong> notion that the pair
were lovers, as portrayed in the 1967 fi lm, is probably
erroneous, as Clyde was homosexual. <strong>The</strong> pair
ruled the playground like an underage Bonnie and Clyde,
threatening to pinch and slap anyone who did not hand
over their pocket money.
book of life Life itself, the experience of living,
or a record of how a life has been spent. <strong>The</strong> original
Book of Life, in which the names and deeds of
those who will be saved on judgment day are
listed, is described in Revelation 3:5, 20:12–15,
and 21:27. It is also sometimes called the book of
fate. “Now, Mr. Copperfi eld, I hope that you will
not render it necessary for me to open, even for a
quarter of an hour, that closed page in the book of
life, and unsettle, even for a quarter of an hour,
grave affairs long since composed” (Charles Dickens,
David Copperfi eld, 1849–50).
books, of making many See of making many
books.
Boone, Daniel See daniel boone.
Borden, Lizzie See lizzie borden.
boreal (boreebl) Pertaining to the north; cold,
bleak. <strong>The</strong> word has its origins in Boreas, who was
identifi ed in Greek mythology as the god of the
north wind. He was the son of Astraeus (one of the
Titans) and Eos (the goddess of the dawn) and the
brother of Zephyrus (the west wind), Notus (the
south wind), and Eurus (the east wind). He was
said to live in a cave on Mount Haemus in Thrace.
“He knew, and she knew, that, though the fascination
which each had exercised over the other—on
her part in de pen dently of accomplishments—
would probably in the fi rst days of their separation
be even more potent than ever, time must attenuate
that effect; the practical arguments against
accepting her as a house mate might pronounce
themselves more strongly in the boreal light of a
remoter view” (Thomas Hardy, Tess of the
D’Urbervilles, 1891).
Borgias, the (borzhbz) A family with a reputation
for ruthlessness and unscrupulous behavior. <strong>The</strong>
allusion is to the historical Borgia family, who
wielded im mense power in re nais sance Italy.
Chief among them were Pope Alexander VI
(1431–1503) and his children Cesare Borgia
(1476–1507) and Lucrezia Borgia (1480–1519).
<strong>The</strong> fondness of the Borgias for disposing of enemies
by making them take pledges in poisoned
wine prompted the meta phorical glass of wine
Borgias, the
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