Literary notes about Middle (AI summary)
The term “middle” in literature is employed both literally and metaphorically, serving to denote a center point—be it spatial, temporal, or figurative—across a diverse range of texts. For instance, authors use “middle” to describe a physical center, as when a field is depicted with oaks in the middle [1] or a character stands in the middle of a room [2, 3, 4]. In other contexts, “middle” serves to indicate a temporal or developmental midpoint, such as describing someone as middle-aged [5, 6] or a festival occurring in the middle of the day [7]. The word also functions as a marker for historical periods or societal groups, exemplified by its use in discussing the Middle Ages [8, 9] or middle-class demographics [10, 11, 12]. Furthermore, “middle” is harnessed to structure abstract ideas like narratives or processes, emphasizing a balanced progression from beginning to end as noted in classical writings [13]. Thus, the versatility of “middle” underscores its capacity to evoke a sense of centrality and equilibrium, resonating across both concrete descriptions and abstract concepts in literature.
- A pleasant green field, with three wide-spreading oaks in the middle, and a smooth strip of turf for croquet.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott - Madame Shtchukin, as red as a crab, was standing in the middle of the room, rolling her eyes and prodding the air with her fingers.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - There was only one bedstead; and from this the bed had been removed, and thrown into the middle of the floor.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe - He stood in the middle of the assembly and the good herald Pisenor brought him his staff.
— from The Odyssey by Homer - I’d put him at forty years of age, and he was of a middle height, two or three inches shorter than you, sir.
— from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle - At the last moment, a middle-aged American lady swarmed into the compartment, followed by native porters laden with her baggage.
— from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain - Towards the middle of the day the second attack came on.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - It was the same motive that led the people of the Middle Ages to make pilgrimages which led them to join the crusades.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park - The absence of effective publication in the Middle Ages led to a curious complication of translation and retranslation.
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Marco Polo and da Pisa Rusticiano - The contracting couple appeared to belong to the well-to-do middle class, and the wedding altogether was of ordinary prettiness and interest.
— from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy - In fact, to be a bit better than one’s neighbour was considered excessively vulgar and middle-class.
— from An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde - It prepared the way for the Revolution, but maintained it only at the outset, while it was still exclusively middle class.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park - A whole is that which has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
— from The Poetics of Aristotle by Aristotle
