Literary notes about Defendant (AI summary)
The term "defendant" appears in literature with a fascinating duality, functioning both as a formal legal designation and a metaphorical device. In many texts, such as those drawn from legal manuals and court narratives [1, 2, 3, 4], the word retains its precise judicial meaning, evoking courtroom proceedings and legal procedures. Meanwhile, in literary works that delve into the psychological or absurd—like Kafka’s The Trial—the defendant becomes a symbol of alienation and bureaucratic injustice, sometimes blurring the boundaries between literal and metaphorical interpretation [5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]. Even in fables and other narrative forms [13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19], the term is playfully recontextualized, sometimes serving as both a character and a thematic pivot, while scholarly works on criminal psychology and psychoanalysis use it to explore notions of guilt, identity, and the complexities of legal defense [20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]. This varied usage underscores the word’s versatility, highlighting its capacity to ground stories in real legal conflict or to abstractly illustrate broader human dilemmas.
- The defendant rose and addressed the court.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - I am the plaintiff, and he the defendant.)
— from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Chief Justice Lewis, before whom the case was originally tried, declined to permit the defendant to prove the truth of the alleged libel.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - The defendant was charged with misbranding, because he sold as Java and Mocha a coffee containing Abyssinian coffee.
— from All About Coffee by William H. Ukers - "That's right," said the man, "oh, yes, you're defendant K., I recognise you now as well.
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - "Both have in common that they prevent the defendant being convicted," he said.
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - You mean, do you, that the second arrest would have an adverse influence on the judge and the verdict he passes on the defendant?
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - We knew you were a defendant.
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - But there aren't usually many hold ups from then on, and that's the time that the defendant can feel most confident.
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - The trial doesn't stop, but the defendant is almost as certain of avoiding conviction as if he'd been acquitted.
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - Not a single innocent defendant in so many cases?
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - I don't mean by this that the defendant is never free, he's never free in the proper sense of the word with an apparent acquittal either.
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - Sarah Pillowcase examined: Was chambermaid at the Tinder-box and Flint, New Cut; had known defendant since she was a child—also knew plaintiff’s wife.
— from Aesop's Fables by Aesop - He felt ashamed of his two legs, knowing that the defendant in this case was a biped.
— from Aesop's Fables by Aesop - Defendant came very often when plaintiff was out.
— from Aesop's Fables by Aesop - Was sure it was defendant’s nose.
— from Aesop's Fables by Aesop - Once caught Madame Bonbon on defendant’s knee.
— from Aesop's Fables by Aesop - Well, the plaintiff knew the value of money, and therefore left his wife and the defendant to arrange the affair between them.
— from Aesop's Fables by Aesop - He has, no doubt, sought to hush up his infamy; the defendant has no such contemptible cowardice.
— from Aesop's Fables by Aesop - For that reason the defendant appealed for a postponement of the trial or immediate liberation.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - It hinders him in the heads of his colleagues and of the defendant, and it is his enemy not least frequently in his own head.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - The expression may be important on the face of a defendant who asserts,—e.g.—that he does not understand an argument intended to prove his guilt.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - I offer you a preliminary compromise on the basis of the analogy of the judge and the defendant.
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud - At law, one has to declare a defendant guilty on circumstantial evidence for practical reasons.
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud - The defendant hardly saw this action before he got frightened, raised his hands, ran to the sword-examiner, crying “I confess, I confess!
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - And later it is difficult to reverse the rôles of witness and defendant.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - This is what we often see when a denying defendant finds himself confounded by evidence, etc.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - The witness helps us with it, and the defendant deceives and eludes us by its means.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - It frequently happens that the sufferer and the defendant really hate each other.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - When a defendant confesses to a deed, the judge believes his confession.
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
