Literary notes about Cloistered (AI summary)
The term "cloistered" is frequently used in literature to evoke feelings of seclusion and retreat, whether referring to a physical space or a state of mind. It is often applied to describable environments such as enclosed convents, quiet gardens, or secluded courtways that suggest a safe and meditative haven, as seen in depictions of silent, winding walks and sheltered courtyards ([1], [2], [3]). At the same time, authors use "cloistered" to characterize characters who withdraw from the world's bustle—whether by choice or circumstance—highlighting the tension between introspective isolation and the vibrant life beyond confined walls ([4], [5], [6]). This layered use of the word enriches the narrative by contrasting the still, reflective quality of seclusion with the dynamic, sometimes oppressive nature of a life lived apart from society ([7], [8], [9]).
- It was built after the manner of conventual buildings generally,—in a hollow square, with a cloistered walk around the inside looking upon a garden.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 07, No. 44, June, 1861 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various - By a quiet day Rosamund meant a day lived through in absolute solitude, a day of meditation in the cloistered garden.
— from In the Wilderness by Robert Hichens - He stopped before the great open portal, and beheld a garden surrounded by cloistered walks.
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. Andersen - He promised himself a fourth year, when he would withdraw from this side of Oxford life and in some cloistered digs work really hard.
— from Sinister Street, vol. 2 by Compton MacKenzie - Yes, he had been for the last year in our monastery, and seemed willing to be cloistered there for the rest of his life.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - From that moment, in fact, the young woman ceased to be cloistered.
— from Juliette Drouet's Love-Letters to Victor Hugo by Juliette Drouet and Louis Guimbaud - She smiled and said: "It is true I was once a cloistered woman, but I will never willingly be one again.
— from The Hermit and the Wild Woman, and Other Stories by Edith Wharton - To you, ye cloistered shades of Alcalá, To you, ye radiant visions of romance, Written in books, but here surpassed by truth.
— from Tent life with English Gipsies in Norway by Hubert (Solicitor) Smith - It is no wonder that Whitman, revolutionary in substance and form, perplexes the genteel and the cloistered.
— from The Critical Game by John Albert Macy
