shadow colors - OneLook

Literary analysis:

The word "shadow" in literature is a versatile symbol that resonates with both literal and metaphorical significance. It can underscore the absence of a trait, as when a character is described as having not the slightest shadow of jealousy [1] or lacking any hint of deceit [2]. At the same time, shadows evoke an atmospheric presence—suggesting foreboding and mystery, as in the ominous gliding figure that seems to embody darkness itself [3] or the haunting valley of the shadow of death which frames existential despair [4]. Moreover, the term can serve as a marker of internal or philosophical conflict, capturing the interplay between substance and its ephemeral counterpart [5]. This dual nature of the shadow enriches narratives by layering physical descriptions with deeper emotional and symbolic meanings.

She had not the slightest shadow of jealousy in her soul, and M. de Grimaldi was the sole witness of our happiness.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova
With all her secrecy, and self-will, there was not so much as the shadow of anything false in her.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
On and on he glided, like an evil shadow, the very darkness seeming to loathe him as he passed.
— from The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
And saying this, he turned and passed into the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
— from The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois
We tremble with the violence of the conflict within us,—of the definite with the indefinite—of the substance with the shadow.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe

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