Literary notes about Hapless (AI summary)
The term "hapless" is deployed by literary authors to evoke an immediate sense of pity, misfortune, or inevitable doom in their characters. It often characterizes individuals, groups, or even entire communities as victims of harsh fate or cruel circumstance, as seen when sailors are described in forlorn fragments of destiny ([1]) or when birds suffer a preordained tragic end ([2]). In works spanning epic narratives to more personal accounts, the adjective underscores both the passive suffering of its subjects and the overwhelming power of circumstances beyond their control, whether referring to doomed friends in classical epics ([3]), beleaguered individuals oppressed by tyrannical forces ([4]), or tragic figures whose lives spiral into misfortune ([5]). This consistent usage across diverse texts—ranging from adventures and historical reflections to poetic laments—illustrates how "hapless" effectively deepens the emotional texture, accentuating the somber interplay between human frailty and destiny.
- Dantès from his rocky perch saw the shattered vessel, and among the fragments the floating forms of the hapless sailors.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - So down he flies, and finds, too late, The treacherous corn is only there To tempt poor birds to hapless fate.
— from The Fables of La Fontaine by Jean de La Fontaine - I heard of the discovery of the American hemisphere, and wept with Safie over the hapless fate of its original inhabitants.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - The hapless Queen;—but the still more hapless Country, if she were made happy!
— from On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle - thou shalt have three, thou hapless creature,”—and he fumbled in his pocket with nervous haste and got them out.
— from The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
