Literary notes about Figure (AI summary)
The word “figure” in literature plays a versatile role, weaving together notions of physical appearance, symbolic presence, and technical representation. In many works, it is used to evoke a tangible image—a particular shape, form, or bodily grace—as when a character’s “pretty face and neat figure” is noted [1] or when a “gorgeous figure” turns a critical gaze toward another character [2]. At the same time, “figure” often extends into the realm of metaphor and abstraction, serving as a symbol or embodiment of larger ideas, as seen when a “great and baleful figure” looms over historical events [3] or when it represents an ideal or archetype in philosophical discourse [4]. Finally, the term can also be technical or numerical, pointing to diagrammatic illustrations or mathematical constructs [5] [6] [7]. In this way, “figure” enriches literary expression by bridging the concrete with the conceptual, inviting readers to explore layers of meaning in both form and idea.
- He saw only her pretty face and neat figure and wondered why life was not arranged so that such joy as he found with her could be steadily maintained.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser - The gorgeous figure turned a lustreless eye upon the Duke, and said in a dead voice— “She was my mother!”
— from The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain - When the House of Han in turn is tottering to its fall, the great and baleful figure of Ts`ao Ts`ao dominates the scene.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi - Through these they see, or seem to see, darkly, and in a figure, that the soul is immortal.
— from Phaedo by Plato - Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 1. Plate 50 PLATE 51.
— from Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery - There are twenty-one of those little square cells into which our figure is subdivided, from which we have to form both a square and a Greek cross.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney - Suppose next that we are trying the two-figure factor, 21.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney
