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Literary notes about advantage (AI summary)

The term “advantage” in literature serves as a flexible concept, denoting both material and abstract benefits that shape character actions and plot developments. It is used to highlight concrete gains, such as a character capitalizing on a chance observation or seizing a tactical opportunity in battle [1][2][3], while also embodying more subtle advantages like the intellectual or moral upper hand that influences decisions [4][5][6]. In some passages, the word underscores social or economic leverage—whether by wealth or position—that affects interpersonal dynamics and power struggles [7][8][9]. Thus, its usage reflects a spectrum of benefits ranging from immediate physical gains to long-term ethical considerations, illustrating the multifaceted role advantage plays in driving narratives and deepening character conflicts [10][11].
  1. Cesaire had disappeared, taking advantage of the door being open.
    — from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant
  2. Swift as thought, Hawkeye seized the advantage, and discharged his fatal weapon into the top of the oak.
    — from The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper
  3. We shall be unable to turn natural advantage to account unless we make use of local guides.
    — from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi
  4. Thus, so far as knowledge of detached facts is concerned, the advantage is on the side of self-knowledge as against external observation.
    — from The Analysis of Mind by Bertrand Russell
  5. But this is an advantage, that concerns only the owner, nor is there any thing but sympathy, which can interest the spectator.
    — from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume
  6. But consider what precedes and what follows, and then, if it be for your advantage, engage in the affair.
    — from The Enchiridion by Epictetus
  7. To save the island, he refused to use an enormous advantage fortune had given him over the [374] fleet.
    — from The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 by A. T. Mahan
  8. He was a smooth and florid personage, elegantly dressed, and he spoke their language freely, which gave him a great advantage in dealing with them.
    — from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
  9. Kitty, to her very material advantage, spent the chief of her time with her two elder sisters.
    — from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  10. that nothing could be unjust that was done against Jews; and that when both cannot be consistent, advantage must prevail over justice.
    — from The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Flavius Josephus
  11. This advantage, which had been obtained by treachery, served as a prelude to more honorable and decisive victories.
    — from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

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