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Literary notes about abbey (AI summary)

The word “abbey” in literature is employed with remarkable versatility, serving both as a literal reference to historic, awe‐inspiring religious institutions and as a symbolic or even personal marker in narrative contexts. In many works, abbeys are depicted as venerable structures steeped in history and cultural significance—such as the famous Westminster Abbey in references that underline its regal and sacred stature ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5]) or the Gothic, mysterious allure of Northanger and Tintern Abbey ([6], [7], [8], [9]). At the same time, “Abbey” appears as a personal name—most notably in Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend, where characters like Miss Abbey, with her commanding presence and distinctive voice, add a playful yet authoritative tone to the dialogue ([10], [11], [12], [13], [14]). This dual usage, ranging from concrete architectural grandeur to a more intimate and sometimes humorous identifier, illustrates how the term enriches texts by evoking both a tangible historical legacy and a nuanced character trait.
  1. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
    — from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide by Various
  2. Westminster Abbey begun 1066.
    — from English Literature by William J. Long
  3. Gay died in 1732 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
    — from The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems by Alexander Pope
  4. It has prevented the removal of his remains from the bosom of his native place to Westminster Abbey, which was at one time contemplated.
    — from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving
  5. He died in 1774, and Johnson placed a tablet, with a sonorous Latin epitaph, in Westminster Abbey, though Goldsmith was buried elsewhere.
    — from English Literature by William J. Long
  6. An abbey!
    — from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
  7. Again they parted—but Eleanor was called back in half a minute to receive a strict charge against taking her friend round the abbey till his return.
    — from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
  8. With all the chances against her of house, hall, place, park, court, and cottage, Northanger turned up an abbey, and she was to be its inhabitant.
    — from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
  9. A FEW MILES ABOVE TINTERN ABBEY, ON REVISITING THE BANKS OF THE WYE DURING A TOUR, July 13, 1798.
    — from Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth
  10. 'Does anybody down there know what has happened?' demanded Miss Abbey, in her voice of authority.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  11. 'Fetch a doctor,' quoth Miss Abbey.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  12. The three persons were Miss Abbey and two male guests.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  13. 'But I humbly don't mean that, Miss Abbey.' 'Then what do you mean?'
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  14. 'That's the stretcher, or the shutter, whichever of the two they are carrying,' said Miss Abbey, with experienced ear.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

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