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Literary notes about FORBID (AI summary)

In literature, “forbid” is employed both as a direct command and as an exclamatory expression of moral, divine, or personal disapproval. Authors like Charlotte Brontë use a straightforward injunction—“I forbid it” [1]—to assert authority and set clear boundaries, while at the same time exclamations such as “God forbid!” appear frequently, lending a dramatic, almost ritualistic weight to the rejection of certain actions, as seen in works by Shakespeare [2] and Chekhov [3]. In other contexts, “forbid” has a broader, more reflective role, prompting readers to consider the nature of prohibition itself, as in Hume’s observation about the allure of the forbidden [4] or Montaigne’s musings on moral restraint [5]. This diversity in usage—from rigid command to an expressive interjection—demonstrates the word’s versatility as a marker of authority, ethical judgment, and even social commentary throughout literary history.
  1. "I forbid it.
    — from Villette by Charlotte Brontë
  2. God forbid!
    — from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
  3. God forbid!
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  4. Hence we naturally desire what is forbid, and take a pleasure in performing actions, merely because they are unlawful.
    — from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume
  5. God forbid that in my hands I should ever suffer any image of life, that I am able to render to so good a father, to fail.
    — from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

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