Literary notes about Contention (AI summary)
In literature, the term "contention" is deployed to capture a spectrum of conflicts ranging from ideological disputes and power struggles to personal quarrels and internal emotional strife. It may denote a prolonged and often historical clash of ideas or territories, as when long-held disputes over religious or national dominance are laid bare ([1], [2]), or even encapsulate legal and political debates where assertions must be validated ([3], [4]). At other times, it embodies the fiery intensity of a personal or cosmic struggle, evident in epic battles and interpersonal skirmishes ([5], [6]), or serves as a metaphor for the internal conflicts that propel a character's emotional landscape ([7]). Such varied usage highlights the word’s versatility in enriching narrative tension and articulating the multifaceted nature of human discord across genres.
- Nor was it very different in the history of the long contention between the two for the big bone of Christendom.
— from Demonology and Devil-lore by Moncure Daniel Conway - The question of the naturalisation of foreigners renewed the contention.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - We are tired of contention with Britain, and can see no real end to it but in a final separation.
— from Common Sense by Thomas Paine - The judges decided that his contention was just and must be allowed.
— from The Mysterious Stranger, and Other Stories by Mark Twain - But when contention and occasion meet, By Jove, I’ll play the hunter for thy life With all my force, pursuit, and policy.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - Thus did the gods spur on both hosts to fight, and rouse fierce contention also among themselves.
— from The Iliad by Homer - She seemed to pray internally, and the contention of her soul was evident.
— from Twice-told tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne
