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Literary notes about cloak (AI summary)

The term "cloak" in literature serves multiple roles, both as a tangible garment and as a symbol for concealment and transformation. Writers frequently use it to evoke mystery or disguise, as when a character’s appearance is marked by its swift removal or concealment—hinting at a sudden change in identity or circumstance ([1], [2]). It is also employed in descriptions that communicate social status, comfort, or even criticism, such as when it is borrowed to portray both the physical and metaphorical covering of one's true self ([3], [4], [5]). In historical and adventurous narratives, the cloak becomes an emblem of authority or a tool in the unfolding drama, whether lending an air of dignity to a marshal or serving as a barrier to hide one’s inner thoughts ([6], [7]). Through such varied applications, the cloak enriches the narrative texture, providing readers with both literal and figurative layers of meaning ([8], [9]).
  1. D’Artagnan threw off his hood, and disengaged his hands from the folds of the cloak.
    — from The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
  2. You pull’d me by the cloak; would you speak with me? BRUTUS.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  3. Come, give me his fur cloak and some pillows, that I may make him comfortable in his arm-chair.
    — from The Imaginary Invalid by Molière
  4. In this the 'democratic foundation' seemed to be the chief basis, and the 'constitutional monarchy' only provided the necessary cloak.
    — from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner
  5. Can't they really understand that vice is only fascinating when it is beautiful and secret, hidden under the cloak of virtue?
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  6. He was standing on the field; his hand was pressed to his side; his face was pale and strange and he wore the white cloak of a marshal.
    — from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
  7. We will not line his thin bestained cloak With our pure honours, nor attend the foot That leaves the print of blood where'er it walks.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  8. CHRISTIAN (to Cyrano, pulling him by his cloak): Why?
    — from Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
  9. If you are rude at home, then is your politeness abroad a mere cloak to conceal a bad, selfish heart.
    — from The Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness by Cecil B. Hartley

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