Literary notes about Laugh (AI summary)
Across literature, "laugh" functions as a multifaceted tool that captures a spectrum of human emotions and intentions. It is employed to express genuine joy and relief, as when a character bursts into an infectious laugh that lightens a tense moment ([1], [2]), yet it can also convey irony or even social critique, as when laughter subtly mocks hypocrisy or adversity ([3], [4]). Authors create layers of meaning by juxtaposing the spontaneous with the deliberate—a quiet, involuntary laugh signaling a moment of unexpected catharsis ([5]) against a patronizing or sardonic laugh that exposes the absurdities of society ([6]). In this way, the varied use of "laugh" reflects the complex interplay between humor, critique, and the human condition.
- “Mazarin!” replied D’Artagnan, bursting into a laugh.
— from Twenty years after by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - “And he laughed a good broad laugh, the wholesome laugh of a contented Englishman.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - Containing such grave matter, that the reader cannot laugh once through the whole chapter, unless peradventure he should laugh at the author.
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding - But you will not be offended if I laugh at your excuses, for after what you have said I cannot help thinking them very laughable.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - If I notice it and it succeeds in diverting my attention, if I wait for it to occur and it occurs when I expect it, then involuntarily I laugh.
— from Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic by Henri Bergson - That abject hypocrite, Pumblechook, nodded again, and said, with a patronizing laugh, “It's more than that, Mum.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
