Literary notes about Edification (AI summary)
Writers employ "edification" to signify a process of moral or spiritual instruction that aims to improve the audience’s character or understanding. In literary works, it is often used both earnestly and satirically to denote the imparting of refined thought or noble sentiments, as seen when Sheridan praises a character’s lofty discourse [1] and when Dickens highlights an actor’s comic performance for the audience’s benefit [2]. The term also appears in religious and instructional contexts, where it underscores the role of preaching or writing in advancing spiritual awareness [3, 4]. In some narratives, edification extends to a broader cultural or social improvement—whether by sharing profound philosophical insights [5] or even in light-hearted exchanges meant simply for the listeners’ improvement [6].
- Well—well—you'll be convinced when you know him—'tis edification to hear him converse—he professes the noblest Sentiments.
— from The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan - Boy put aside, to the great edification of the audience, especially of Little Swills, the comic vocalist.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth: but that which is good, to the edification of faith: that it may administer grace to the hearers.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - And so it was that, to the world's great edification, a Theology appeared depending simply on Ethics, indeed actually derived therefrom.
— from The Basis of Morality by Arthur Schopenhauer - I not only tell you that my hero wrote a revolutionists' handbook: I give you the handbook at full length for your edification if you care to read it.
— from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy by Bernard Shaw - It certainly is Edification to hear him talk.
— from The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
