Literary notes about Peril (AI summary)
Across a broad range of literary works, the term "peril" is deployed to intensify the stakes of a situation, often encapsulating both tangible danger and metaphorical risk. In narrative prose, it marks the precariousness of fortunes or lives, as seen when fortunes hang in the balance during crises or adventures ([1], [2], [3]). Philosophical and allegorical texts frequently employ it to underscore existential or moral dilemmas, highlighting the inherent dangers in pursuing truth or virtue ([4], [5], [6]). Additionally, heroic epics and dramatic narratives use "peril" to evoke suspense and urgency, whether in the midst of epic battles, treacherous journeys, or defiant acts against overwhelming odds ([7], [8], [9]).
- Our whole fortunes were in peril, so the thing was serious, you see.
— from Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac - His very subsistence is snatched from the midst of toil and peril.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving - forty years of privation, and peril, and storm-time!
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville - And here, my dear Glaucon, is the supreme peril of our human state; and therefore the utmost care should be taken.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - Indeed we may wait if we will,—I hope you do not think that I am denying that,—but if we do so, we do so at our peril as much as if we believed.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James - Of course I yield to my belief in such a case as this or distrust it, alike at my peril, just as I do in any of the great practical decisions of life.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James - Our intent Was to be gone from Athens, where we might, Without the peril of the Athenian law- EGEUS.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - At our own risk and peril, let us violate this injunction.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - When he comes to the Great Game he must go alone—alone, and at peril of his head.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling
