Literary notes about Sybarite (AI summary)
The term "sybarite" in literature has been used to evoke a spectrum of connotations, often associated with luxurious excess and moral critique. In Benito Pérez Galdós’ Doña Perfecta, the term is employed in a manner that reflects both indulgence and subtle disapproval [1][2]. Similarly, M. E. Braddon in Lady Audley’s Secret uses it to sharply characterize a person as selfish and cold-hearted, emphasizing an inherent critique of overindulgence [3]. The notion is further expanded in Enlightenment discourse, where Rousseau in The Social Contract equates a man’s worth to his level of consumption, suggesting that a sybarite’s value is intrinsically linked to his indulgent practices [4]. Additionally, Victor Hugo’s poetry evokes the allure and seductive quality of such decadence, painting the sybarite as one nurtured by a life of sensuous delights [5].
- sibarita Sybarite, sybarite.
— from Doña Perfecta by Benito Pérez Galdós - sibarita Sybarite, sybarite.
— from Doña Perfecta by Benito Pérez Galdós - You are a selfish, cold-hearted Sybarite—" "Alicia!
— from Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. Braddon - According to them, a man is worth no more to the State, than the amount he consumes; and thus a Sybarite would be worth at least thirty Lacedæmonians.
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - The repast that they gave; And no Sybarite, nursed in the lap of delight, Such a banquet ere tasted as welcomed that night The elect of the grave.
— from Poems by Victor Hugo
