Literary notes about Incertitude (AI summary)
In literature, "incertitude" is used as a nuanced expression of uncertainty that can reflect both internal conflict and broader societal dilemmas. It captures the character’s inner vacillation and deep-seated doubt—whether in moments of fleeting hesitation as a plan takes shape ([1]) or when existential quandaries overwhelm a person’s resolve ([2], [3]). Writers also deploy the term to underscore themes that extend beyond the self, as in portraying the pervasive malaise of collective confusion or the unsettling nature of unknown futures ([4], [5], [6]). Ultimately, incertitude serves as a flexible narrative tool, lending depth to a character’s emotional landscape and enriching the thematic texture of the narrative ([7], [8]).
- Shaking off his incertitude as the air parted with the sound of the bells, he walked rapidly to the house, and knocked at the door.
— from Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens - Then doubts crowded upon me in such numbers that my incertitude became complete.
— from History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume II (of 2)Revised Edition by John William Draper - But then Oak was not racked by incertitude upon the inmost matter of his bosom, as she was at this moment.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - It was not individuals against whom the struggle was made, but mass stupidity, gigantic bulwarks of human incertitude.
— from Gladiator by Philip Wylie - Juge de toutes choses, imbecile ver de terre; depositaire du vrai, amas d’incertitude; gloire, et rebut de l’univers.”
— from The Works of Richard Hurd, Volume 2 (of 8) by Richard Hurd - Merely from habit, I again repaired to the White Horse, and concluded my nineteenth natal day in incertitude, solitude, and misery.
— from Rattlin the Reefer by Edward Howard - All things produced by our own meditation and understanding, whether true or false, are subject to incertitude and controversy.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne - But this state of incertitude and confused agitation cannot last for ever.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim
