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Literary notes about coincidence (AI summary)

The term "coincidence" in literature functions as a versatile tool that can signify anything from a striking convergence of events to a philosophical commentary on fate and randomness. In narrative fiction, authors often use it to underscore an unexpected meeting or occurrence that propels characters into new situations, as seen in the terse exclamations of Joyce ([1], [2], [3]) or the ironic observations by Dickens ([4], [5], [6], [7]). Meanwhile, in more reflective or analytical texts, coincidence is employed to suggest deeper metaphysical or symbolic interrelations, whether casting doubt on mere chance—as in Coleridge’s contemplations ([8], [9]) and Freud’s psychoanalytic musings ([10], [11], [12])—or to introduce a methodical inquiry into historical or scientific phenomena, like Darwin’s subtle nod to evolutionary processes ([13]). Its usage, therefore, ranges from a marker of randomness in everyday encounters to a subtle clue in the interplay between reason and fate.
  1. Now that’s a coincidence.
    — from Ulysses by James Joyce
  2. Coincidence.
    — from Ulysses by James Joyce
  3. Coincidence.
    — from Ulysses by James Joyce
  4. His being my lawyer, and his being the lawyer of your patron is a coincidence.
    — from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  5. Quite a coincidence.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  6. 'Neither do you know it, Georgy?' said Mrs Lammle. 'N-no,' replied Georgiana, faintly, under the sympathetic coincidence.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  7. Such is coincidence!'
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  8. [74] (if it was not rather a coincidence) in the lines TO JOANNA.
    — from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  9. All knowledge rests on the coincidence of an object with a subject.
    — from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  10. The coincidence is sufficiently great to assure us a good beginning.
    — from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
  11. Without this coincidence we could not, of course, assert that the loss involved any intention to get rid of the gift.
    — from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
  12. This coincidence cannot be accidental, nor is it an unimportant matter.
    — from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
  13. And it is now well known that he attributes this coincidence to descent with modification.
    — from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin

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