Literary notes about desecration (AI summary)
Literature employs the term “desecration” to signal a deep violation or profanation of what is considered sacred, whether in the realm of religion, art, or personal honor. At times, it denotes the brutal defilement of sanctuaries and holy spaces, as when an invasion is described as not only an act of physical violence but also a spiritual insult [1], [2], [3]. In other contexts, the word extends metaphorically to the corruption of cherished affections or artistic ideals, evoking the profound emotional pain of witnessing what is held dear being irreparably tarnished [4], [5], [6]. Its usage thus serves to intensify the contrast between what is revered and what is deemed intolerably profane [7].
- He surrounded the church and entered it with his men, who were guilty of violence and desecration.
— from Ravenna, a Study by Edward Hutton - It would also involve a desecration of the sacred temple enclosure.
— from The Expositor's Bible: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther by Walter F. (Walter Frederic) Adeney - In Psalms 74 and 89, for example, there are clear references to the desecration of the temple and the bitter persecutions of Antiochus.
— from The Makers and Teachers of Judaism From the Fall of Jerusalem to the Death of Herod the Great by Charles Foster Kent - It seemed to me a desecration of the boy, and of my love for him.
— from Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist by Alexander Berkman - A feeling of pain crept over him as he thought of the desecration that was in store for the fair face on the canvas.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - The thing she proposed was to him, as he had truly said, a desecration, a defilement.
— from The Historical Nights' Entertainment: Second Series by Rafael Sabatini - Don’t dare to think more of such a desecration; I shall not give my consent to anything you do.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker
