Literary notes about Contraband (AI summary)
The word "contraband" in literature tends to evoke images of illicit or forbidden items, though its specific usage can vary considerably by context. For example, in Louisa May Alcott's work [1], the term is playfully applied to everyday commodities—as limes are jokingly declared illegal—while in Roget's Thesaurus [2] it serves as a broader metaphor for petty theft and persistent wrongdoing. Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet [3] employ it in a narrative of maritime suspense, where mundane items become significant when considered smuggled, and Stendhal [4] utilises it in a military context to denote goods intercepted during wartime, underscoring its association with law enforcement and rebellion. Even in Napoleon's letters [5], the term is wielded to characterize a person as alien or untoward, highlighting its adaptability to both tangible and abstract forms of contravention.
- Now Mr. Davis had declared limes a contraband article, and solemnly vowed to publicly ferrule the first person who was found breaking the law.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott - He is a perpetual plunderer—a petty purloiner—a pinching petitioner in forma pauperis —a contraband dealer in snuff.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - “Why,” replied he, “I think it just possible Dantès may have been detected with some trifling article on board ship considered here as contraband.”
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - I was sent with twenty-five dragoons into the woods along the Sesia, to intercept contraband.
— from On Love by Stendhal - I might scold, for you are contraband here, M. Junot."
— from Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812 by Emperor of the French Napoleon I
