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Literary notes about Subvert (AI summary)

In literature, "subvert" is often employed to denote the act of undermining or overthrowing established systems, be they political, religious, or natural. Many works depict characters or forces intent on eroding entrenched power structures or traditional beliefs—for instance, plotting revolutionary coups against dynasties or established governments [1, 2] and challenging inherited institutions like religion and reason itself [3, 4]. At times, authors extend the term’s reach to the very laws governing nature, suggesting even the immutable can be upended [5, 6]. Whether highlighting overt political rebellion or the more subtle process of destabilizing accepted norms, the term consistently carries connotations of profound transformation and disruption [7, 8].
  1. Mallet , with 12 of his confederates in a plot to subvert the Bonaparte dynasty, were tried and shot in the plains of Grenille.
    — from The Every Day Book of History and ChronologyEmbracing the Anniversaries of Memorable Persons and Events in Every Period and State of the World, from the Creation to the Present Time by Joel Munsell
  2. Their avowed purpose was to subvert the existing government.
    — from The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912 by James H. Blount
  3. If we reject it in favour of these reasonings, we subvert entirely the human understanding.
    — from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume
  4. In other words, it would subvert his own system.
    — from Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Vol. 2 (of 2) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  5. She thinks it monstrous that the sun can still hold on his way, and prays for power to subvert the whole course of nature.
    — from The Tragedies of SenecaTranslated into English Verse, to Which Have Been Appended Comparative Analyses of the Corresponding Greek and Roman Plays, and a Mythological Index by Lucius Annaeus Seneca
  6. And here again we witness the irresistibility of motion, which seems to subvert the laws of gravitation and the principles of mechanics.
    — from The Philosophy of Mystery by Walter Cooper Dendy
  7. "I never wrote any letter tending to subvert the constitution," he asseverated.
    — from The History of the United States from 1492 to 1910, Volume 1 From Discovery of America October 12, 1492 to Battle of Lexington April 19, 1775 by Julian Hawthorne
  8. But deductive logic is the creation of Aristotle; and it was the authority of Aristotle that Bacon sought to subvert.
    — from Beacon Lights of History, Volume 3 part 2: Renaissance and Reformation by John Lord

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