Literary notes about bottom (AI summary)
In literature, the word "bottom" is a remarkably versatile term that functions both physically and metaphorically. It often denotes the lowest or most foundational part of an object or space—for instance, the frayed end of trousers [1], the base of a staircase or well [2, 3, 4], or even the deep, mysterious realms of the ocean [5, 6]. At the same time, authors use "bottom" to evoke deeper emotional or conceptual layers. It appears in expressions like getting to the bottom of a complicated affair [7, 8] or as a powerful symbol of one’s innermost feelings [9, 10]. Furthermore, in more vivid, sometimes erotic contexts, the term can refer directly to the human anatomy, adding sensual or provocative nuances to a narrative [11, 12]. Thus, the term enriches texts by oscillating between concrete physical descriptions and abstract, symbolic dimensions.
- Their trousers were mere bags, frayed at the bottom and wobbling over big, soppy shoes, torn at the sides and worn almost to shreds.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser - At the bottom of the staircase Hermann found a door, which he opened with a key, and then traversed a corridor which conducted him into the street.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - ] Why did they live at the bottom of a well?
— from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and Alice Gerstenberg - On looking down, however, he saw a man in the bottom of the well.
— from Filipino Popular Tales - This wreck, to be thus encrusted with the lime of the water, must already be able to count many years passed at the bottom of the ocean.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne - He lost his balance and fell, striking his head sharply on the bottom of the ladder.
— from Filipino Popular Tales - Let us sift to the bottom this affair of the first elopement.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 1 by Edgar Allan Poe - The sooner we do it the better, and get to the bottom of this horrible affair.
— from The innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton - This expression sprang from the very bottom of the heart, and, like the first, there was no mistaking it.
— from The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - What did it matter that, at the bottom of his heart, was care and pain?
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - I must give you a lecture—so sit on my knee, thus,” placing him so that his lovely bottom should press against the huge prick.
— from The Romance of Lust: A classic Victorian erotic novel by Anonymous - The doctor would not allow young Dale to rise until he had embraced and kissed the lovely bottom that had just yielded him such intense satisfaction.
— from The Romance of Lust: A classic Victorian erotic novel by Anonymous
