Literary notes about Dominant (AI summary)
In literature, "dominant" is frequently employed to underscore a prevailing quality or authority that shapes characters, environments, or thematic currents. It often describes a controlling emotion or instinct that drives behavior, as when an overpowering passion or thought defines a character’s actions [1, 2, 3]. The term can also denote hierarchical strength in social, political, or natural contexts, implying that one group or species asserts authority over another [4, 5, 6]. In artistic and compositional discussions, a dominant line, note, or element serves as the focal point that guides interpretation and balance [7, 8, 9]. Whether referring to the commanding beauty of a character’s presence [10] or the essential, driving instincts of human nature [11, 12], "dominant" operates as a versatile descriptor that lends clarity to power dynamics and priorities within a work.
- The fear of ridicule is the most dominant of our feelings, that which controls us in most things and with the most strength.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park - “For the moment that was the dominant thought.
— from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - The doubt about the safety of the Diamond was, once more, the dominant impression in his brain!
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - The Anglo Saxon is the dominant race of the world, and is to be so .” *
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - The larger and more dominant groups thus tend to go on increasing in size; and they consequently supplant many smaller and feebler groups.
— from On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - The dominant species belonging to large and dominant groups tend to leave many modified descendants, which form new sub-groups and groups.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - In Panel F, 1-2 has been taken as the dominant line, and sympathetic lines drawn on the same principle as before.
— from The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed - BUT WITH ADDITION OF MASSES TO COVER LINES CROSSING AND RESTORE BALANCE D. TAKING LINE 3-4 AS DOMINANT LINE E. AS AT D
— from The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed - J. ADDITIONAL LINES DRAWN TO RELATE ORIGINAL LINES AND BRING THE WHOLE INTO HARMONY TAKING LINE 1-2, AS DOMINANT.
— from The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed - He was certainly handsome, with that dark, aquiline, commanding beauty which women so generally recognise as dominant.
— from Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker - But their intellect did effect all this, simply because it was the dominant instinct, which carried through its orders in the case
— from The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - The dominant vocation of all human beings at all times is living—intellectual and moral growth.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey
