Literary notes about Mesmerizing (AI summary)
In literature, "mesmerizing" is frequently employed to evoke a sense of irresistible, almost hypnotic allure that both enchants and dominates its subject. It is used to describe the captivating power of voices and gazes that can entrance an audience ([1], [2]), as well as to denote a literal or metaphorical influence that awakens hidden memories or controls wills ([3], [4]). At times the term even suggests a self-reflective state, where characters are so transfixed that they lose awareness of their surroundings ([5]), or imply an adeptness at enchanting others through an almost magical charisma ([6], [7]). This rich use of "mesmerizing" allows writers to blur the lines between enchantment and domination, making it a versatile term in their narrative toolkit.
- The long harangue, delivered as a chant, had long ago had a mesmerizing effect on her audience.
— from The City of Delight: A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall of Jerusalem by Elizabeth Miller - The stranger turned his black, cavernous, mesmerizing glance away from the bearded Schomberg, who sat gripping the brass tiller in a sweating palm.
— from Victory: An Island Tale by Joseph Conrad - Many an experiment has shown this to be true; also that by mesmerizing or hypnotizing processes the most hidden images or memories can be awakened.
— from The Mystic WillA Method of Developing and Strengthening the Faculties of the Mind, through the Awakened Will, by a Simple, Scientific Process Possible to Any Person of Ordinary Intelligence by Charles Godfrey Leland - The ever-magnifying splendor before us had been mesmerizing our senses,—slowly overpowering our wills with the amazement of its beauty.
— from Two Years in the French West Indies by Lafcadio Hearn - Then she dropped them and said, "Stop mesmerizing me."
— from Benign Stupors: A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction Type by August Hoch - Book agents seemed to have a mesmerizing effect on Miss Sally, as serpents daze birds before they devour them.
— from Kilo : being the love story of Eliph' Hewlitt, book agent by Ellis Parker Butler - Even if she did travel with the mesmerizing Alex Goddard it was hard to imagine a place less spiritual.
— from Life Blood by Thomas Hoover
