Literary notes about Income (AI summary)
In literature, “income” often transcends its literal financial meaning to become a marker of social standing, personal security, and even moral character. Authors use the term to denote not only the practical means of living—as seen when characters rely on a fixed income for daily sustenance ([1], [2], [3])—but also to explore the tensions between economic stability and the burdens of societal expectation ([4], [5], [6]). In works by authors like Dostoyevsky ([7]) and Sinclair ([8]), income is portrayed as the resource that supports ambitions and fulfills responsibilities, while in novels such as those by Dumas ([9]) and Dickens, it simultaneously becomes a tool for critiquing class distinctions and financial constraints. Thus, through a variety of narrative techniques and settings, “income” is imbued with both a practical currency and a symbolic weight that reflects the multifaceted realities of life.
- We lived so simply and quietly that the income which I was now steadily earning sufficed for all our wants.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - Left with but a small income, Virginia Richmond had settled down to a retired life in the village and to the raising of her son.
— from Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson - Mr. Nickleby’s income, at the period of his marriage, fluctuated between sixty and eighty pounds per annum .
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - “Exceed their income!
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I can never submit to do that—yet how are we to get on? Two-thirds of my income goes in paying the interest of mortgages.
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë - Mrs. Bennet had no turn for economy, and her husband's love of independence had alone prevented their exceeding their income.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - The clergy have nothing to complain of; it brings them a good income.
— from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - It was simply some boss who proposed to add a little to his income.
— from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - From that lucky moment Scarron led a happy life, spending both income and principal.
— from Twenty years after by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
