Literary notes about Habitable (AI summary)
The word “habitable” has served as a versatile descriptor across various literary genres, signifying both the suitability of dwellings and the broader concept of a livable world. In historical and imperial narratives, authors extend its scope beyond mere shelter—declaring vast territories or even the entire earth as fit for settlement, as seen when Claudius Cæsar addressed all the habitable earth [1] or when Thomas Paine envisioned a continent comprising an eighth of the habitable globe [2]. At the same time, the term is employed more intimately to describe domestic or structural conditions, such as Napoleon’s choice of a building for his headquarters [3], the careful renovations in Dickens’ work [4], or even the argument that while ancient vessels were not habitable like modern warships [5], certain rooms could be transformed into comfortable living spaces [6]. This dual usage highlights literature’s propensity to both confine “habitable” to the realm of human dwellings and expand its reach to encompass the very notion of a livable, comprehensible world.
- Now Claudius Cæsar, by these decrees of his which were sent to Alexandria, and to all the habitable earth, made known what opinion he had of the Jews.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus - ’Tis not the affair of a city, a country, a province, or a kingdom, but of a continent—of at least one eighth part of the habitable globe.
— from Common Sense by Thomas Paine - Napoleon thanked the honest yeomen, and determined to make the only habitable dwelling there his headquarters.
— from Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812 by Emperor of the French Napoleon I - To make these dwellings as habitable and full of comfort as they could, was now their pleasant care.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens - [22] The ancient trireme was not habitable, like a modern ship of war.
— from Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch - ‘She has had two or three rooms made habitable; and there she lives, all alone—except an old woman for a servant!’
— from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
