Literary notes about Presumptuous (AI summary)
Literary authors employ "presumptuous" to denote an excess of boldness or overstepping of socially and morally accepted boundaries. Its usage often highlights characters whose self-confidence becomes a fault, whether through an awareness of one’s own audacity ([1]) or by casting individuals in the role of transgressors challenging divine or societal limits ([2]). The term is invoked both as a subtle critique and a marker of hubris, evident in dramatic defiance—as when a priest is rebuked for audacious conduct ([3])—and in more intimate moments of self-reflection that reveal the fine line between ambition and insolence ([4], [5]). In this way, "presumptuous" functions as a versatile descriptor in literature, encapsulating the tension between aspiration and decorum, as well as the consequences of overweening pride ([6], [7]).
- A.—Yes, it seems presumptuous for me to undertake it; but yet I can not refuse to do it.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - No man upon pain of death might be so presumptuous as to approach the Mountain where God talked with Moses.
— from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes - Presumptuous priest, this place commands my patience, Or thou shouldst find thou hast dishonour'd me.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - “I’m not afraid, you know,” she said: which seemed quite presumptuous enough.
— from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James - "No longer am I the presumptuous lad who came here a short while ago: not for nothing have I attained my twenty-third year.
— from Fathers and Sons by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev - But it seems such a terribly tragic thing to bring beings into the world—so presumptuous—that I question my right to do it sometimes!"
— from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy - “Presumptuous villain!” cried Manfred; “dost thou provoke my wrath?
— from The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
