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

Leviticus 4:1–3). “A dreadful per for mance could
see Mr. Byers offered up as a sacrifi cial lamb”
(Guardian, February 20, 2002).
Sadducee (sajbsee, sadybsee) A person who stubbornly
refuses to believe a commonly accepted
truth. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the Sadducee sect of the
time of Christ who accepted the authority only of
the written Law and rejected a belief in the Resurrection
and angels and demons. Supposedly named
after the high priest Sadoq, who was reputed to
have founded the sect, they, like the Pharisees,
were hostile toward Jesus Christ and his teachings
(Matthew 22:23–33, Mark 12:18–27, and Luke
20:27–38). <strong>The</strong>y lost infl uence after the fall of
Jerusalem in a.d. 70. “I was quite drawn out to
speak to him; I hardly know how, for I had always
thought of him as a worldly Sadducee. But his
countenance is as pleasant as the morning sunshine”
(George Eliot, Adam Bede, 1859).
sadism (saydizbm) <strong>The</strong> infl iction of pain or suffering
on another for the sake of one’s own pleasure
(often specifi cally sexual gratifi cation). <strong>The</strong>
origin of the term lies in the scandalous reputation
of Comte Donatien Alphonse François, marquis
de Sade (1740–1814), a French writer and soldier
whose sexual exploits and pornographic writings
were the source of much controversy during and
after his own lifetime. He was imprisoned on several
occasions for sexual crimes and in all spent
some 30 years behind bars. “<strong>The</strong>n one day the
mask had slipped, and beneath the apparent loving
concern she had glimpsed spite and sadism” (Dana
James, Bay of Rainbows, 1993).
Saint Helena (hbleenb) A place of exile, especially
one from which there is no possibility of
return. <strong>The</strong> tiny island of Saint Helena in the
South Atlantic was the place of exile chosen for
the French emperor napoleon after his fi nal
defeat at waterloo in 1815. Napoleon remained
there until his death in 1821—according to some
he died as the result of arsenic poisoning (perhaps
from the arsenic in the wallpaper at Longwood,
the house he occupied), although a more recent
suggestion is that he probably died of stomach cancer.
Napoleon was not the only person to be incarcerated
on the remote island: in 1890 the son of
the Zulu chief Cetshwayo began a seven- year term
there, following which the island was used by the
British to accommodate 5,000 Boer prisoners during
the Boer War. His wife liked the peace and quiet of
the island, but to him it was a Saint Helena far removed
from the urban surroundings he loved. See also elba.
Saint Mary Mead See miss marples.
Saint Trinian’s
Saint Stephen’s loaves Rocks. <strong>The</strong> reference is
to the stoning to death of Saint Stephen, the fi rst
Christian martyr, who died c. a.d. 35 after being
accused of blasphemy (as described in Acts 6:1–
8:2). By the same token to be fed with Saint
Stephen’s bread is a euphemism for being stoned
to death. At this unwelcome news she feared the mob
would start to toss Saint Stephen’s loaves at her, in timehonored
fashion.
Saint Trinian’s (trineebnz) Archetype of an oldfashioned
girls’ school, especially a badly- run one
where discipline has gone to pieces and the illdressed
pupils do as they please. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to
the notorious fi ctional girls’ school created by the
British cartoonist Ronald Searle (b. 1920) and
immortalized not only in his cartoons and books
but also in various movies, the fi rst of which was
<strong>The</strong> Belles of Saint Trinian’s (1954). Searle got the
name of his famous school from the real Saint
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