Literary notes about Defy (AI summary)
The term "defy" in literature frequently evokes a deliberate stance of resistance or challenge against various forces—whether they be natural, societal, or personal. Writers use it to indicate not only the act of rebelling against oppressive authority or fate, as in challenging a ruler or destiny [1, 2], but also to highlight the persistence of the human spirit against overwhelming odds, such as enduring the ravages of time or nature [3, 4]. In many cases, "defy" underscores a character’s determination to stand apart from convention or to question societal norms, confronting both external adversaries and internal conflicts with uncompromising resolve [5, 6, 7].
- And in this resolution I defy thee; Not willing any longer conference, Since thou deniest the gentle King to speak.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - But to defy the world is a serious business, and requires the greatest courage, even if the defiance touch in the first place only the world's ideals.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - In order to protect the city it was surrounded by high walls, which seem to defy all the attacks of time.
— from English Villages by P. H. Ditchfield - That indifference, more awful than tears, cries, and reproaches, seemed to defy time and consolation.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad - And I defy any witch in New England to make such another!
— from Mosses from an old manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne - But you have chosen to defy me, and it is your own folly which is to blame if I no longer spare you.
— from Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. Braddon - "I defy Rome, Sparta, or Thebes," he would say, "to show me thirty years of such patriotism as Corsica can boast!"
— from The Life of Horatio, Lord Nelson by Robert Southey
