Literary notes about Virgin (AI summary)
The term "virgin" functions as a multifaceted symbol in literature, often conveying both sanctity and unblemished purity while also embodying untouched natural beauty or latent erotic tension. It is frequently employed to evoke spiritual reverence and maternal grace—as in depictions of the Virgin Mary or divine figures [1], [2], [3], [4]—and to underscore the pristine, unaltered state of both nature and character [5], [6]. In other contexts, the word is charged with dramatic irony or provocative allure, suggesting both innocence and a subtext of forbidden desire [7], [8]. This versatility allows writers to layer meanings and engage readers in a rich interplay of symbol and sentiment.
- Over the door hung a painting of the Virgin Mary, fresh alpine roses and a burning lamp stood near it.
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. Andersen - In some strange halo of a moon Christ and the Virgin Mary are sitting, clad in mystical white raiment, half shroud, half priestly linen.
— from The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry by Walter Pater - “Lo! the high God comes to the womb of a holy virgin, to be the Saviour of men, lo!
— from Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England by Saint the Venerable Bede - To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin's name was Mary.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - Had it not been for the Atlantic Ocean and the virgin wilderness, the United States would never have been the Land of Promise.
— from The Promise of American Life by Herbert David Croly - The people is the last virgin soil upon which this brilliant weed can grow.
— from The Dawn of Day by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - Of course, all this was preliminary to the grand attack he meant afterwards to make on the virgin aperture in young Dale’s bottom.
— from The Romance of Lust: A classic Victorian erotic novel by Anonymous - Tell me, now, what I can answer to your friend in case he should ask me, during the first night, why I am so different to what a virgin ought to be?”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova
