Literary notes about VISAGE (AI summary)
Across literature, "visage" is employed not merely as a synonym for face but as a dynamic vessel conveying mood, character, and sometimes fate. Authors use it to suggest an inner life outwardly expressed, whether through a look of camaraderie or foreboding severity. In some works, a friend’s visage invites trust and intimacy [1], while in others, a downcast or grim visage hints at moral or existential decay [2], even evoking a supernatural or demonic presence [3]. The word’s versatility shines in classical epics, where a hero’s or ruler’s visage reflects both their physical grandeur and inner turmoil [4][5]. By choosing "visage" over more commonplace terms, writers enhance the visual and emotional impact of their character descriptions, weaving external appearance and inner essence into one compelling narrative detail [6][7].
- ‘Bob,’ said Mr. Ben Allen, laying down his knife and fork, and fixing his eyes on the visage of his friend, ‘Bob, I’ll tell you what it is.’
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens - This terrible lord of the forest, of grim visage and gaping jaws, and famishing with hunger, filleth me with fright.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - It was the visage of a demon who has just found his damned soul.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - The Trojan chief appear’d in open sight, August in visage, and serenely bright.
— from The Aeneid by Virgil - But first, to hide her heavenly visage, spread Black Orcus' helmet o'er her radiant head.
— from The Iliad by Homer - As we rode up to the gate-way, I perceived it slightly open, and the visage of a man peering through.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe - Her wrinkled visage actually gleamed with triumph, as if the soul within her were a festal lamp.
— from Twice-told tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne
