Literary notes about despondency (AI summary)
Despondency in literature functions as a vivid marker of an inner emotional crisis that can both define a character’s downfall and subtly underscore the complexities of the human spirit. In one narrative, it signals the shattering of high hopes and the inevitable fall from grace ([1]); in another, it is interwoven with steadfast courage, suggesting that even the bold may be tempered by moments of gloomy resolve ([2]). At times, authors illustrate despondency as an overpowering force that necessitates self-consolation, as when a character seeks immediate relief from its crushing weight ([3]). Meanwhile, in other works, brief interludes of despair are portrayed as transient, quickly giving way to flashes of hope or renewed determination ([4], [5]).
- Despondency rarely visited my heart; a high destiny seemed to bear me on, until I fell, never, never again to rise.”
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - His whole person breathed lowliness and firmness and an indescribable courageous despondency.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - I endeavored, also, immediately to occupy myself, and at the same time to comfort my despondency.
— from The Piazza Tales by Herman Melville - His recent despondency, not to say despair, was gone in a moment.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - What can men be after this?” he exclaimed incoherently, in bitter despondency, almost despair.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
