Literary notes about Vestibule (AI summary)
The term "vestibule" is frequently employed as a liminal space—a threshold between environments—imbuing narrative settings with an air of transition or anticipation. Authors often use it to evoke the moment of entering a significant space, whether a palace or a simple home entrance, symbolizing both physical and metaphorical passages. In some works, such as when a character retreats from the public eye or prepares for a crucial event ([1], [2]), the vestibule becomes a place of private reflection before entering the larger world. In others, it serves as a gathering point that marks the shift from one social sphere to another ([3], [4]), while occasionally even blurring the boundary between the real and the eerie as in epic tales ([5], [6]). This versatile setting enriches the narrative, establishing a dynamic interplay between arrival, departure, and the mysterious in-between.
- Father Yevmeny recollects that he has some direction to give to Luka, and trips off to the vestibule.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - He returns from the vestibule with glistening eyes, and at once attacks the pie with relish.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - She was met in the vestibule by Lydia, who, flying to her, cried in a half whisper, “I am glad you are come, for there is such fun here!
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - If the vestibule is very crowded and several ladies are together, he sometimes gives his arm to the older and asks the others to follow.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post - While Ulysses lies in the vestibule of the palace, he is witness to the disorders of the women.
— from The Odyssey by Homer - The Gate of Inferno—the Vestibule of the Caitiffs—the Great Refusal—Acheron—Charon—the Earthquake—the Slumber of Dante, 17 [Pg x] CANTO IV.
— from The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
