Literary notes about Commodity (AI summary)
In literature, the term commodity is used with remarkable flexibility, alternating between concrete objects and abstract notions. In economic discourses, it denotes tangible items that are bought and sold—corn as an example of a bulky commodity is weighed against butcher’s meat [1], while thorough discussions of market prices, production costs, and labor illustrate its function within capitalist frameworks [2][3][4]. At the same time, writers employ the term metaphorically to capture essential human experiences and qualities. One author reimagines the sensory world as a collection of commodities [5][6], another humorously transforms physical attributes and emotions into tradable goods, as seen when hair and names are treated as commodities [7][8]. This dual usage underscores how the word bridges the concrete and the symbolic, enriching both economic and literary narratives.
- Corn is a much more bulky commodity than butcher's meat.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - It is in England taxed at three shillings and fourpence a bushel; about three times the original price of the commodity.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - It is because high or low wages and profit must be paid, in order to bring a particular commodity to market, that its price is high or low.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - The actual price at which any commodity is commonly sold, is called its market price.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - Thus the use of commodity, regarded by itself, is mean and squalid.
— from Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson - Under the general name of Commodity, I rank all those advantages which our senses owe to nature.
— from Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson - Now Jove, in his next commodity of hair, send thee a beard!
— from Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will by William Shakespeare - Now Jove, in his next commodity of hair, send the a beard! VIOLA.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare