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Literary notes about Slavish (AI summary)

The term "slavish" is often employed in literature to evoke a strong sense of unthinking submission or excessive emulation. In some works, it characterizes a state of fearful subjection or rigid admiration, as seen when it describes a paralyzing terror or uncritical devotion [1, 2, 3]. In other contexts, it is used to critique the conformity or mimicry inherent in societal, political, or artistic practices, suggesting that such behavior lacks originality and independent thought [4, 5, 6]. Thus, across genres and periods, "slavish" serves as a powerful modifier that underscores a tendency toward servile, unreflective behavior in both individuals and collectives.
  1. He feared tenfold more, with a slavish, superstitious terror, some scission in the continuity of man's experience, some wilful illegality of nature.
    — from The Short-story
  2. Obviously he is a slavish admirer of Mr. Irving.
    — from My Lady Nicotine: A Study in Smoke by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
  3. He had always regarded her with slavish fear.
    — from The Little Hunchback Zia by Frances Hodgson Burnett
  4. But in order to oppress a class, certain conditions must be assured to it under which it can, at least, continue its slavish existence.
    — from The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx
  5. The picture gave rise to a hot discussion when exhibited, the old school of painters denouncing such slavish imitation of nature.
    — from The Autobiography of a Journalist, Volume I by William James Stillman
  6. But it was all done in the interest of an accuracy that should yet not be a slavish uniformity.
    — from The Greatest English Classic A Study of the King James Version of the Bible and Its Influence on Life and Literature by Cleland Boyd McAfee

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