Literary notes about Invulnerable (AI summary)
Writers often deploy invulnerability as a symbol of both physical and emotional strength, crafting characters and objects that seem immune to harm. In mythic retellings, for instance, heroes like Achilles—made invulnerable by divine waters except for a single weak spot—embody the paradox of near-perfection juxtaposed with fatal vulnerability ([1], [2]). At the same time, literary portrayals sometimes extend the concept into the realm of inner resolve or mystical protection, where enchanted armor or an indomitable spirit renders a man or idea untouchable by worldly misfortunes ([3], [4]). Even in more subtle contexts, the term is used to suggest an imperviousness borne of profound conviction or relentless passion, highlighting the human desire for a shield against the uncertainties of life ([5], [6]).
- His mother Thetis, to render him invulnerable, plunged him into the waters of the Styx.
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson - Achilles, for example, is dipped by his mother in the Styx and thereby rendered invulnerable and invincible to the one point of his heels.
— from The Philosophy of Fine Art, volume 1 (of 4)Hegel's Aesthetik by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel - The Marconi instruments for sending and receiving are tuned to each other and are then invulnerable to the attack of waves of different lengths.
— from Looking Forward: A Dream of the United States of the Americas in 1999 by Arthur Bird - He possessed an enchanted golden helmet which rendered the wearer invulnerable, and which was naturally much sought after by all the knights.
— from Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 7 by Charles Herbert Sylvester - His was the hard, clear, invulnerable passion of the bones, finely tempered and unchangeable.
— from Twilight in Italy by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence - It seemed to her that self-esteem would have made her invulnerable—that it was her own dishonour which put a fearful solitude about her.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
