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

Hedda Gabler
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at the hands of the Greeks). Ultimately she was
turned into a dog and threw herself into the sea.
Grandmother took up her Hecuba pose of the mortally
aggrieved innocent bystander.
Hedda Gabler (hedb gahbler) A neurotic, vengeful,
frenzied woman. <strong>The</strong> original Hedda Gabler
was the central character in Henrick Ibsen’s 1890
play Hedda Gabler, a restless, unfulfi lled cynic who
rejects marriage to the man she really loves and
ultimately kills herself after she fi nds she is pregnant
by the husband she despises. When she heard
that her sister had got much better reviews than she had
she came over all Hedda Gabler and refused to speak to
anyone for a week.
hedonism <strong>The</strong> belief that the pursuit of plea sure
or happiness is the aim of life. <strong>The</strong> word comes
from the Greek hedone, meaning “plea sure,” and
the concept was fi rst developed by the Greek philos
o pher Aristippus (c. 435–c. 356 b.c.). “Yes:
there was to be, as Lord Henry had prophesied, a
new Hedonism that was to re create life and to save
it from that harsh uncomely puritanism that is having,
in our own day, its curious revival” (Oscar
Wilde, <strong>The</strong> Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891).
Heep, Uriah See uriah heep.
Hegelian (hegayleebn) Relating to the concept of
progress being achieved through the clash of opposing
ideas. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the German phi los o pher
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831),
who argued that only through the confl ict of a
proposition (thesis) and its antithesis could a synthesis
be attained. His notion contributed to the
development of the theory of dialectical evolution
and formed part of the basis of the ideas of Marx
and Engels, among others. “<strong>The</strong> reddish- haired
young man contributed allusions to the Hegelian
philosophy that momentarily confused the discussion”
(H. G. Wells, Ann Veronica: A Modern Love
Story, 1909).
hegira (hijierb, hejbrb) An exodus or any fl ight
to safety from oppression, especially from religious
persecution, and by extension a change of
policy or other move designed to put a person in a
more favorable position. <strong>The</strong> term (meaning
“departure”) originally denoted the fl ight of
Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in a.d. 622,
the date marking the foundation of the Islamic
faith. <strong>The</strong> revolution prompted a hegira of refugees from
the country under the threat of punitive action by the
new regime.
he has got gold of Tolosa (tolosb) A person who
obtains something by dubious means will not benefi
t from it. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the sacking and looting
of the Temple of Apollo at Tolosa (Toulouse)
by the Roman consul Caepio. <strong>The</strong> gold and silver
he looted was stolen from him in turn, and he and
his men were defeated in battle in 106 b.c. with
heavy losses. It was truly said of Dobbs as he faced death
at the hands of bandits that he had got gold of Tolosa.
Heidi (hidee) A young girl with a sunny, optimistic
disposition, especially one of Swiss or central
Eu ro pe an descent or appearance. Heidi is the
title character of a children’s novel by Johanna
Spyri, published in 1881. Undaunted by her
orphan background, Heidi leads an idyllic life after
settling in the Swiss Alps with her crusty old
grandfather and her young companion Peter the
goatherd. <strong>The</strong> name of Spyri’s much- loved young
heroine actually means, in German, “noble sort.”
“I had on this little dress, smock it was, with this
pretty embroidery all over the bodice, sort of