Literary notes about ELATION (AI summary)
In literature, the term elation often conveys a surge of sudden, overwhelming joy or hope that can transform a character's state of mind. It is used to depict moments of intimacy or victory, as when a character's hope is rekindled with a single touch [1] or when the rush of emotion propels a figure into the fervor of battle [2]. Elation is sometimes presented in stark contrast with despair, emphasizing the fickle nature of human emotion—for instance, characters oscillate between depression and elation [3, 4], highlighting the fragile balance between light and shadow in their inner lives. At other times, the emotion is rendered more subtly, infusing everyday events with a touch of buoyant celebration or, paradoxically, a bittersweet afterglow that underscores lingering regrets [5, 6]. This layered use of elation not only captures moments of transcendence or catharsis but also deepens our understanding of characters by revealing the intensity and complexity of their emotional journeys [7, 8, 9].
- "Then can you bear to think of me as your lover, Maggie?" said Philip, seating himself by her, and taking her hand, in the elation of a sudden hope. "
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - His eyes were shining; he was in the elation of battle.
— from My Second Year of the War by Frederick Palmer - And so he wandered on, alternating between depression and elation as he stared at the shelves packed with wisdom.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London - And so the months went by, with their cares and pleasures, their hopes and fears, their elation and depression.
— from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 2 of 2) Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many From Her Contemporaries During Fifty Years by Ida Husted Harper - I was almost alarmed by this display of feeling, through which pierced a strange elation.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad - “Here you are,” he said, repressedly, feeling a spring in his limbs and an elation which was tragic in itself.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser - He did not see that it would have been better to soothe the interval with a new hope, and prevent the delirium of a too sudden elation.
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - When Nietzsche uses it, he means a sort of blend of our two words: intoxication and elation.—Tr.
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV by Nietzsche - Elation and pleasure were in my heart: to walk alone in London seemed of itself an adventure.
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë
