Literary notes about drag (AI summary)
The word "drag" in literature is a versatile device, shifting effortlessly between the literal and the metaphorical. Authors employ it as a descriptor for physical force—a warrior pulling an enemy’s body away in epic battles ([1]) or men being hauled forcibly ([2])—and as a metaphor for burdensome processes, such as the slow, reluctant progression of time or societal decay ([3], [4]). It is also used to reveal inner states, as characters describe dragging themselves through hardships, emphasizing weariness and struggle ([5]). Moreover, the term can color a narrative with both urgency and despair, whether in the precise mechanics of movement ([6]) or in the more abstract dragging of reputation into disrepute ([7]). Through these varied applications, "drag" enriches storytelling by melding dynamic physical actions with deeper emotional and thematic currents.
- Acamas then bestrode his brother's body and wounded Promachus the Boeotian with his spear, for he was trying to drag his brother's body away.
— from The Iliad by Homer - Bind him, chain him, drag him to the nearest police station!
— from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - In all these battles it sees itself compelled to appeal to the proletariat, to ask for its help, and thus, to drag it into the political arena.
— from The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx - For days this apparition was a drag on her soul before it began to wear partially away.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser - I soon found, however, that I could not walk; that I must drag myself along.
— from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne - Owing to the increase in drag resulting from low aspect ratio (large chord relative to span) the higher the aspect ratio the more efficient the wing.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide by Various - He would put an end to that sort of thing once and for all; he would not have her drag his name in the dirt!
— from The Forsyte Saga, Volume I. by John Galsworthy
