Literary notes about beguiled (AI summary)
In literature, "beguiled" is a versatile term that captures both the enchantment of a deceptive charm and the more benign distraction of a pleasant diversion. It is often used to depict moments when characters are led astray by malevolent forces or false promises, as when one laments, "The Evil One has beguiled me" [1] or is misled by the subtle wiles of a cunning adversary [2, 3]. At the same time, the word can describe the lighter, almost playful art of spending time away from one's worries, illustrated by characters who "beguiled the time" with conversation or idle pleasures [4, 5]. Thus, across different texts, "beguiled" enriches descriptive language by intertwining themes of seduction, trickery, and gentle diversion [6, 7, 8].
- Simple people say: 'The Evil One has beguiled me.'
— from The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - A demon, the tempter Satan himself, has beguiled me and led me from the right path.”
— from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol - The woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."-
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - Short beguiled the time with songs and jests, and made the best of everything that happened.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens - Meantime the two gentlemen inside, who were little disposed to sleep, beguiled the time with conversation.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens - Apollo ran but a little way before him and beguiled Achilles by making him think all the time that he was on the point of overtaking him.
— from The Iliad by Homer - We’ll show thee Io as she was a maid And how she was beguiled and surpris’d, As lively painted as the deed was done.
— from The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare - His reason, thus beguiled by the great Destroyer himself by intoxicating his senses, was itself lost with his life.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1
