Literary notes about Shadow (AI summary)
The word "shadow" in literature is a versatile symbol that resonates with both literal and metaphorical significance. It can underscore the absence of a trait, as when a character is described as having not the slightest shadow of jealousy [1] or lacking any hint of deceit [2]. At the same time, shadows evoke an atmospheric presence—suggesting foreboding and mystery, as in the ominous gliding figure that seems to embody darkness itself [3] or the haunting valley of the shadow of death which frames existential despair [4]. Moreover, the term can serve as a marker of internal or philosophical conflict, capturing the interplay between substance and its ephemeral counterpart [5]. This dual nature of the shadow enriches narratives by layering physical descriptions with deeper emotional and symbolic meanings.
- She had not the slightest shadow of jealousy in her soul, and M. de Grimaldi was the sole witness of our happiness.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - With all her secrecy, and self-will, there was not so much as the shadow of anything false in her.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - On and on he glided, like an evil shadow, the very darkness seeming to loathe him as he passed.
— from The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde - And saying this, he turned and passed into the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
— from The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois - We tremble with the violence of the conflict within us,—of the definite with the indefinite—of the substance with the shadow.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe
