Literary notes about dupe (AI summary)
In literature, the word "dupe" is often employed to highlight the vulnerability or self-deception of a character caught in a web of trickery. Authors use it with a blend of irony and caution, as when a character warns against being mistaken for an easily fooled person while hinting at past lapses in judgment [1, 2]. At times, "dupe" underscores the gap between self-assurance and the reality of being deceived, revealing how even the most confident individuals may unwittingly fall prey to manipulation [3, 4, 5]. Its use can also serve as a subtle social critique, suggesting that the very nature of trust and naivety makes one an easy target for cunning adversaries [6, 7].
- When Irene had left the room, I said to the mother,— “I like your daughter, but I won’t be long sighing for her, and you mustn’t take me for a dupe.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - That doubt was heavy on my heart, for, if it had proved true, I should have been a dupe, and the idea was humiliating.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - Or is it that from being a deluder of others he has become at last his own dupe as he is, if report belie him not, his own and his only enjoyer?
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - to be a second time the dupe of her misconceptions and flattery.
— from Emma by Jane Austen - I believed him, and I have been the dupe of my confidence in him; he has deceived me; he is a villain.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - 'I might have got clear off, if I'd split upon her; mightn't I, Fagin?' angrily pursued the poor half-witted dupe.
— from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens - It would vex me, indeed, to see you again the dupe of Miss Bingley's pretended regard."
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
