Literary notes about bailiff (AI summary)
The term “bailiff” in literature often denotes an individual charged with maintaining order or executing authority, yet its portrayal ranges widely from the upright executor of duty to a figure of ironic bureaucracy. In some narratives, the bailiff appears as a quietly commanding presence—his simple gesture or measured speech marking pivotal moments in the storyteller’s tapestry [1, 2]—whereas in others he embodies the weight of social and legal responsibility, reflecting tensions between governance and the common people [3, 4, 5]. At times, his role is gently subverted to inject humor or highlight the absurdities of power, as when his stubborn adherence to duty is both criticized and lampooned [6, 7]. Such varied depictions, seen also in the works of Tolstoy [1, 8], Victor Hugo [9, 10, 11], and Thomas Hardy [12, 13], underscore how the bailiff has come to symbolize not only authority but also the more complex, sometimes contradictory, dynamics of societal order.
- said the bailiff, with a wave of his hand.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - "And now," said the bailiff, finally, "all is settled, I think, about your coming, and I am going home-along.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - Then the king asked what fault the bailiff Bjorn had.
— from Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson - Afterwards, they universally found it convenient to delegate it to some substitute, bailiff, or judge.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - The hungry Peasants, however, know too well what Treasure it is: Military seizure for rents, feudalities; which no Bailiff could make us pay!
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle - So the bailiff cried, "Sh-sh," and pretended to frighten the hens away.
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm - My bailiff (a superstitious idiot) says he is quite sure the lake has a curse on it, like the Dead Sea.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - The bailiff smiled and said: “Yes, sir.”
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - And I thought that they were acting against the bailiff!
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo - They have been complaining this long while, of the bailiff, whose vassals they are.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo - The king’s good humor since the revolt against the bailiff had been announced to him, made itself apparent in every way.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo - "Then will you tell him to speak to the bailiff," said Bathsheba.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - Bathsheba had shown indications of anointing him above his fellows by installing him as the bailiff that the farm imperatively required.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
