In literature, purple is a versatile and evocative hue used to signal both opulence and deep emotion. Often it marks regality and wealth, as when characters are noted for their "royal purple" embellishments or are even described as "born in the purple," underscoring their noble lineage and status [1, 2, 3]. Simultaneously, purple enriches descriptions of the natural world—its tinted sunsets, the deepening hues of twilight, or the vibrant burst in autumnal flowers—imbuing landscapes with a dreamlike quality and mystery [4, 5, 6]. Moreover, the color conveys emotional intensity, whether in a face flushed to an almost purple hue or in metaphorical depictions like a storm cloud seething in purple [7, 8, 9]. Together, these varied uses highlight purple’s rich literary symbolism, merging physical beauty with deeper layers of meaning.
- "Why, yes, you can be, of course," said Polly, "but you can't be as good a one as if you had a dash of royal purple about you.
— from Five Little Peppers Midway by Margaret Sidney
- The new king, born in the purple, did not share the simple and somewhat rustic tastes of his father.
— from History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 6 (of 12) by G. (Gaston) Maspero
- For her he decked a couch with Tyrian purple, and on the softest of pillows he laid the beautiful head of the marble woman that he loved.
— from A Book of Myths by Jean Lang
- The purple beams of the setting sun fell upon the dark pine woods, and lay in long lines upon the calm waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
— from The Englishwoman in America by Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy) Bird
- Now purple tints are all around; The sky is blue and mellow; And e'en the grasses turn the ground From modest green to yellow.
— from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Paul Laurence Dunbar
- The purple mountain-side, where all The dewy night the meteors fall, And the pale stars musically set To the watery bells of the rivulet,
— from Poetical Works of Robert Bridges, Volume 2 by Robert Bridges
- The man addressed rose slowly to his feet, the hot blood rushed to his face, the florid countenance assuming an almost purple hue.
— from The Cleverdale Mystery; or, The Machine and Its Wheels: A Story of American Life by W. A. Wilkins
- The goualeuse held down her head and became purple with shame.
— from The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 4, October 1843 by Various
- The heart of the storm-cloud seethed in purple, while all the rest of the sky was hung with gray.
— from Istar of Babylon: A Phantasy by Margaret Horton Potter