Literary notes about Background (AI summary)
The term “background” in literature proves remarkably versatile, functioning both as a literal setting and a metaphor for underlying context or emotion. In descriptive passages, it often delineates a scene; for instance, it contrasts a pallid figure against the dark night or defines a landscape with imposing structures [1], [2]. At the same time, it carries metaphorical weight: a shadow in the background may foreshadow political ostracism or hint at a character’s diminished presence, suggesting an influence that remains unseen yet powerful [3], [4]. Moreover, its use extends to providing historical or thematic context, where the background becomes a reservoir of meaning and history that underpins the narrative’s main events [5], [6].
- And he looked at her, astonished at the pallor of her face, that stood out white against the black background of the night.
— from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert - In the background an embankment across the whole stage.
— from Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand - This ever-present shadow in the background [ 640 ] would in turn throw the shadow of ostracism over all demagogues.
— from The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912 by James H. Blount - " She was going to say more, but she saw her husband enter and seat himself a little in the background.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - But Venice, like Oxford, had kept the background for romance, and background was everything, or almost everything.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - The historical background of life is a part of its substance and the ideal can never grow independently of its spreading roots.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
