Literary notes about Compelling (AI summary)
The term "compelling" in literature operates on multiple levels, often conveying both irresistible force and captivating allure. It can describe an almost physical drive urging characters into action, as when a hand is said to be compelling someone ([1]) or when individuals are forced by authority to comply ([2], [3]). At the same time, the word captures an emotional magnetism that holds the reader’s attention—whether in the depiction of a character’s overwhelming desire ([4]), or in a narrative that is described as of compelling interest ([5], [6]). This varied usage enriches the text, allowing authors to portray internal drives and external pressures with equal intensity ([7], [8], [9]).
- She laid a compelling hand on Mrs. Bean's shoulder and turned her so that she looked straight at the small group of home-stayers down on the wharf.
— from The Best Short Stories of 1917, and the Yearbook of the American Short Story - Mr. Greeley and a policeman presently succeeded in stilling the tumult, the officer collaring several men and compelling them to keep quiet.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - Alfred the Great, at first beaten by Ivar's successors, succeeded in regaining his throne and in compelling the submission of the Danes.
— from The Art of War by baron de Antoine Henri Jomini - Varvara Petrovna was prompted by the feminine composition of her character to a compelling desire to penetrate the secret of them.
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - From first page to last this book is of compelling interest.
— from A Diplomat in Japan by Ernest Mason Satow - [compelling attention] interesting, engrossing, mesmerizing, riveting.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - But, whatever the cause, you and I have not a compelling need of one another.
— from Fathers and Sons by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev - Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.
— from On Liberty by John Stuart Mill - " "Well, that is generous," said Mr. Farebrother, compelling himself to approve of the man whom he disliked.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot
