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Literary notes about blaspheme (AI summary)

The term "blaspheme" in literature is often deployed as a powerful indictment of actions or words that offend the sacred, whether by targeting divine figures or venerable ideals. In several works, the word directly challenges religious reverence—for example, disparaging the name of Jesus in [1] or warning against desecrating sacred figures and holy men as in [2] and [3]. Its use also extends to metaphorical realms, as seen in Shaw’s evocative call against insulting high art in [4], and in Byron’s exclamation of offense in [5]. Some authors employ the term to underscore the gravity of moral and even personal transgressions, as Hardy’s allusion to figures like Hymenaeus in [6] and Augustine’s reflections in [7] reveal. Even when used more casually—as in the regretful tone of [8] or the ironic twist in [9]—"blaspheme" maintains a charged significance, marking a deliberate break with what is held inviolable by society or the divine.
  1. When Dr. Ewald was stationed at Tunis, Maimuny was his great opponent and used to blaspheme the name of Jesus.
    — from Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ by Aaron Bernstein
  2. Do they thus blaspheme the sancts and holy men of
    — from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais
  3. “Blaspheme not the holy saints, Sir Reginald
    — from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott
  4. You dare blaspheme against the sublimest of the arts!
    — from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy by Bernard Shaw
  5. how they did blaspheme!
    — from Don Juan by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron
  6. Among them I should have stood like Hymenaeus and Alexander, who were delivered over to Satan that they might learn not to blaspheme.
    — from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy
  7. And thus it is that in the same affliction the wicked detest God and blaspheme, while the good pray and praise.
    — from The City of God, Volume I by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine
  8. After that I ceased to blaspheme, but I cursed my father.
    — from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
  9. “It was thus, and by mere accident--may God pardon me if I blaspheme--that he heard the confession of the executioner of Bethune.”
    — from Twenty years after by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet

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