Literary notes about Dejection (AI summary)
The word “dejection” is frequently used by authors to evoke a profound state of melancholy or despair that can permeate both a character’s inner life and the broader atmosphere of a narrative. For instance, Dostoyevsky uses it to convey deep emotional distress, as seen when a character’s mood shifts from reluctance to overwhelming sadness [1][2]. At times, dejection symbolizes a temporary surrender from grief or external pressures, imbuing scenes with a palpable weight of sorrow and disenchantment, as illustrated in Gothic moods and tragic reflections [3][4]. Whether revealing the subtle resignation of a private moment or the broader existential plight in dramatic narrative arcs [5][6], its usage enriches literature by offering an enduring expression of the human condition.
- ‘Write something in my sister’s album for me,’ I said rather timidly, for he was in a state of great dejection at the moment.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - He was in a perfect rapture, especially as he had spent the whole time of his friend’s absence in extreme dejection.
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - But dejection and languor disappeared, for a moment, in the smile that now enlightened his countenance, on perceiving her.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe - Great griefs contain something of dejection.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - With painful dejection he awaited the end of this action, in which he regarded himself as a participant and which he was unable to arrest.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - Then he allowed his arm to sink slowly, and gazed at the pavement in profound dejection.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo
