Literary notes about CARE (AI summary)
The term "care" in literature is a versatile device that conveys a spectrum of meanings, ranging from meticulous attention and nurturing to indifference and detachment. In some works, it highlights both the responsibility of oversight and the tender protection one offers—such as when a character ensures another’s safety or personal well-being [1, 2, 3]. At other times, it is used to express a dismissive or nonchalant attitude, as when individuals proclaim their lack of concern for societal or personal issues [4, 5, 6]. Moreover, "care" can underscore the futility of human efforts to alter inherent qualities or circumstances, evoking a poetic resignation [7, 8]. Whether emphasizing the precision of managing duties [9, 10] or revealing an inner emotional state that ranges from deep affection to callous disregard, the word serves to enrich narrative textures and deepen character development across diverse literary landscapes [11, 12].
- You are safe: you have come to my mother, and she will take care of you.
— from A True Friend: A Novel by Adeline Sergeant - “If you behave yourself properly, I will take care of you.”
— from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass - The inhabitants of the cottage were a man and his wife, and they had born to them twins, whom the woman nursed with great care and tenderness.
— from British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions by Wirt Sikes - I mean, I don’t care a button, don’t you know, who is killed or who is guilty...
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - H2 anchor CHAPTER VI I care not, Fortune!
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe - “Now I have retired from business, I don’t care a straw about my reputation.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - When once the cloth has got its fold, The smelling-pot its scent, In vain your efforts and your care To make them other than they are.
— from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine - But sea-room, and the brine and cloudy billow kiss the moon, I care not.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - Next he captured the acropolis and, after entrusting the entire city to the care of the military tribunes, sailed back again.
— from Dio's Rome, Volume 1 by Cassius Dio Cocceianus - For his part, the manager was loaded with the care of this new argument until he reached his office and started from there to meet Carrie.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser - “You must take care of yourself, darling.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - She beamed fondly on him, as he substituted another with every demonstration of the tenderest care.
— from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie