Literary notes about AVOW (AI summary)
The term "avow" in literature often conveys a solemn, open declaration of personal truth or belief. It is employed to underline a speaker’s commitment to expressing what lies in their heart, whether that be a confession of inner feelings ([1], [2]), a public endorsement of a political or ideological stance ([3], [4]), or even an admission of past errors or misdeeds ([5], [6]). At times, its use underscores the tension between private sentiment and public acknowledgment, as characters either boldly affirm their loyalties or reluctantly concede their missteps ([7], [8]). In both classical and modern texts, the word enriches the narrative by lending gravity and authenticity to the act of confession, affirming the speaker’s integrity or sometimes their vulnerability ([9], [10]).
- Dead, I fling aside disgraceful hypocrisy; I dare to speak my thoughts, and to avow and to sign the secret of my heart.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - Pardon me when I avow my terrors, and let my frankness plead in my excuse.
— from The Monk: A Romance by M. G. Lewis - I was so far carried away as to avow my political views, and to defend them--to defend them to him!
— from No Surrender by E. Werner - On the other hand, those who continue to believe are not afraid openly to avow their faith.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville - How could she approach her husband, and confess a scene which she had no reason to conceal, and which she yet felt, nevertheless, unwilling to avow?
— from The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - It may cost her very much to avow to him that she loves him, but once having done that, it will cost her nothing at all to avow it to the world.
— from Wanda, Vol. 2 (of 3) by Ouida - The brother lingered on; Mr Nickleby’s wife constantly urged him to avow their marriage; he peremptorily refused.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - I must not relate feats and avow schemes, when my hearer will say, 'Those feats were never performed; these schemes are not yours.'
— from Ormond; Or, The Secret Witness. Volume 3 (of 3) by Charles Brockden Brown - He will avow that he told Othello of the adultery, and persist that he told the truth, and Cassio will deny it in vain.
— from Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth by A. C. Bradley - I follow’d nature’s laws, and must avow I broke my bonds and fled the fatal blow.
— from The Aeneid by Virgil
