Literary notes about Choice (AI summary)
In literature, the word “choice” carries a wide array of meanings, ranging from a symbol of free will and moral decision-making to a descriptor of superior quality. Authors like Charlotte Brontë and Rousseau depict it as an irrevocable commitment to a preordained fate [1, 2], while others, such as Dickens and Sinclair, use it to illustrate the limited or pragmatic options available in everyday life [3, 4]. In some texts, “choice” emphasizes a selection among the best—whether of goods, actions, or attributes—as in descriptions that elevate certain items or actions above others [5, 6, 7]; in other contexts it reflects on the weight and consequences of decisions made under duress or societal constraints [8, 9]. This versatile term thus functions both as a marker of quality and a pivotal element in exploring the dynamics of human autonomy and destiny.
- “For that fate you have already made your choice, and must abide by it.”
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë - And did I now think Miss Ingram such a choice as Mr. Rochester would be likely to make?
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë - There was no choice then but to go to a lodging-house and spend another dime.
— from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - The young man, telling him he is fortunate in his choice of a time, for his father is there, leads the way to the office where he is to be found.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - Heap together into it the pieces thereof, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, choice pieces and full of bones. 24:5.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - The bar window displayed a choice collection of geranium plants, and a well-dusted row of spirit phials.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens - I knew that the “St. Omer” was an excellent inn, and when I got there I ordered a choice meal and horses for five o’clock the next morning.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - You pays your money, and you takes your choice!"
— from The Further Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Under-Graduate Being a Continuation of "The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman" by Cuthbert Bede - I must have someone to help me; and not having much choice I had to pick out the monk.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova
