Literary notes about There (AI summary)
In literature, the word "there" is a remarkably versatile term that is used to establish location, existence, and even to introduce dramatic action or commentary. Authors employ "there" to set the scene or state a fact in a manner that conveys immediacy or narrative distance, as when Dickens notes, "there was a male patient in bed" [1] or when Stevenson directs our attention to "Skeleton Island" in his narration [2]. It also functions in existential constructions to suggest the presence or occurrence of events, such as in Chopin's "there was Alcee Arobin" [3] or in Wilde's observation that "there are certain temperaments" affected by marriage [4]. In poetic or stylistically elevated contexts, "there" is used for emphasis and to imbue passages with a timeless quality, as seen in translations like that of Valmiki [5] and Vyasa [6]. Across these varied examples, "there" not only anchors the reader in a physical or metaphorical space but also helps shape the narrative tone and structure, making it a small yet powerful tool in the writer’s repertoire.
- In another part of the building, there was a male patient in bed; very much flushed and heated.
— from American Notes by Charles Dickens - “There are three 'tall trees'” said he, “about in the right line from Skeleton Island.
— from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - Of course, there was Alcee Arobin; and Mademoiselle Reisz had consented to come.
— from The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin - Still, there are certain temperaments that marriage makes more complex.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - There on the cold bare ground she keeps Sad vigil and for Ráma weeps.”
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki - And then, O Bharata, there ensued a dreadful conflict between me and the demons, calculated to extinguish the Nivata-Kavachas.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1
