Literary notes about Retaliation (AI summary)
Retaliation in literature is often portrayed as a multifaceted response to injustice, ranging from immediate, visceral reactions to calculated measures of retribution. It appears in classical lexicons as a term embodying requital and recompense ([1]), while narratives by authors like Mark Twain depict it as an impulsive act born out of heated circumstances ([2]). In historical and political discourse, such as in Thucydides’ recounting of conflict or in political treatises, it is presented as a strategic response to aggression ([3], [4]). At the same time, in the realm of personal drama and moral introspection—found in works by Edith Wharton and Charlotte Brontë—it encapsulates the internal struggle between the desire for revenge and the constraints of honor ([5], [6]). Even in allegorical and metaphoric treatments, retaliation is a lens through which societies explore the balance between justice and further conflict ([7], [8]).
- He. 10.30: whence Ἀνταπόδομα, ατος, τό, requital, recompence, retribution, retaliation, Lu. 14.12.
— from A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament by William Greenfield - In that matter lay sufficient cause for hot retaliation by the Mormon chiefs.
— from Roughing It by Mark Twain - Corinth was forming schemes for retaliation, and Athens suspected her hostility.
— from The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides - After long complaining, the people of the country refused to pay, and, in retaliation, their goods were distrained and their persons imprisoned.
— from The Wars of the Roses; or, Stories of the Struggle of York and Lancaster by John G. (John George) Edgar - Now, with a start of inner wonder, Lily felt that her thirst for retaliation had died out.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - What strength had I to dart retaliation at my antagonist?
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë - Reciprocity treaties are in harmony with the spirit of the times; measures of retaliation are not.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein - Self-defence is a natural idea also, but not the same as retaliation.
— from Moral Philosophy: Ethics, Deontology and Natural Law by Joseph Rickaby
