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Literary notes about admittance (AI summary)

The term “admittance” functions with rich versatility in literature, serving as both a literal and symbolic gateway. In many narratives, it designates physical entry—ranging from a consort’s demand in a domestic scene ([1]) and the exclusionary policies at club gates ([2]), to the simple signifiers of opening a door ([3], [4]). Meanwhile, in works like Joyce’s brief command “No admittance except on business” ([5]) or the military imagery of gaining entry through padlocked grates ([6]), it highlights the institutional rigor or barriers of various settings. Symbolically, “admittance” extends to more intangible realms—such as entering the inner circle of society ([7]) or even being granted access to one’s soul, as in Bunyan’s allegorical passages ([8], [9]). This multiplicity of usage underscores the word’s capacity to portray different forms of permission, acceptance, or exclusion depending on the author’s purpose and context.
  1. Squeers, meanwhile, opened the shutters and blew the candle out; when the voice of his amiable consort was heard in the passage, demanding admittance.
    — from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
  2. No one ever regretted the admittance of Sam Weller, for a more devoted, well-behaved, and jovial member no club could have.
    — from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott
  3. I opened the wicket and ran to the door, knocking vehemently for admittance.
    — from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
  4. I could only observe the picture during the few brief seconds that Rachel held the door for our admittance.
    — from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
  5. No admittance except on business.
    — from Ulysses by James Joyce
  6. Note 135 ( return ) [ Not a bridge over a river, but a military engine used for gaining admittance into a fortress.]
    — from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius
  7. It requires years to gain admittance to the inner circle of Italian society.
    — from On Love by Stendhal
  8. She clapped her hands with joy, and cried, "Oh, there's the Wicket Gate, And I must seek admittance there, Before it is too late."
    — from The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan Every Child Can Read by John Bunyan
  9. But is it not a wonder they got not from him his certificate, by which he was to receive his admittance at the Celestial Gate? CHR.
    — from The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to that which is to come by John Bunyan

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