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Literary notes about Creature (AI summary)

Across literature, the term "creature" takes on a strikingly versatile role, embodying both the literal and the symbolic. It is often employed to describe entities that are at once vulnerable and pitiable, as when a character is depicted as burdened or isolated ([1], [2]), yet it can also denote something alien and even monstrous ([3], [4]), underscoring feelings of dread or repulsion. At times, the word serves affectionately, highlighting tenderness and endearment towards another being ([5], [6]), while in other instances it is used to evoke moral or philosophical reflections, suggesting that every living entity—whether noble or base—is intertwined with the human condition ([7], [8]). This multifaceted usage illustrates how writers manage to blur the boundaries between man and beast, the familiar and the extraordinary, using "creature" as a powerful metaphor for both the natural world and the inner workings of the human soul.
  1. The unhappy little creature could not find a word to say.
    — from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  2. Marius gazed at this unfortunate creature with profound compassion.
    — from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  3. But I observed in the room a dreadful-looking creature, a sort of monster.
    — from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  4. "The Count is the vilest creature breathing!
    — from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
  5. My dear little creature, do not stay at Portsmouth to lose your pretty looks.
    — from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
  6. Almost as much delighted as himself, I caught the little creature in my arms, and kissed him repeatedly.
    — from Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë
  7. And therefore banish'd- is a creature such As, to seek through the regions of the earth For one his like, there would be something failing
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  8. The past is such a curious creature, To look her in the face A transport may reward us, Or a disgrace.
    — from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by Emily Dickinson

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