Literary notes about Accomplice (AI summary)
The term "accomplice" in literature has been employed with a rich diversity of meanings, ranging from the literal to the highly metaphorical. In numerous works, it denotes a direct participant in criminal or immoral undertakings—as in Doyle’s inquiry about a ring‐stealing partner ([1]) or the assertion that an accomplice is as culpable as the thief ([2]). Meanwhile, authors like Hugo use it metaphorically, describing how even time itself can become an accomplice to crime ([3], [4]), while Thackeray ([5]) and Wharton ([6]) extend the concept to social and emotional realms. In adventures and mysteries penned by Dumas, Conan Doyle, and others, the word frequently signifies both deliberate partnership in schemes and inadvertent collusion ([7], [8], [9], [10]), underscoring its versatility as a narrative device that reflects both complicity and the intricate interplay of fate and choice.
- “Who was your accomplice who came for the ring which I advertised?”
— from A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle - The accomplice is as bad as the thief.
— from A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs - Each minute which passes is an accomplice, and endorses the crime.
— from The History of a Crime by Victor Hugo - In the same manner as the forest is an accomplice through its density, so the legislation was an accomplice by its obscurity.
— from The History of a Crime by Victor Hugo - Were you an accomplice of that abandoned wretch, I wonder, of whose vile arts he became a victim, and of whom you used to be such an admirer?
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - And the day was the accomplice of her mood: it was a day for impulse and truancy.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - I am willing to help rebuild your fortune, but I will not be an accomplice in the ruin of others.”
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - He felt something like a secret joy at being forever relieved of this dangerous accomplice.
— from The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - “But who was the man who brought him from Lucca?” “Another rascal like himself, perhaps his accomplice.”
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - “I’ll follow her,” he said, hurriedly; “she must be an accomplice, and will lead me to him.
— from A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
