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Literary notes about engaged (AI summary)

The term "engaged" in literature is remarkably versatile, ranging from literal employment to broader metaphoric usage. In contexts of service or employment, it can denote taking up a role, as when a character commits himself as a tailor’s servant [1] or hires someone to perform a task [2]. In military and conflict narratives, it vividly describes troops or individuals involved in battles or strategic actions [3], [4], [5]. The word is also employed to express deep involvement in personal or intellectual pursuits, such as contemplation, study, or even plotting [6], [7], [8]. Moreover, it signifies contractual commitment in matters of marriage or social arrangements, highlighting both formal betrothals and casual social obligations [9], [10], [11]. Thus, across a range of narratives, "engaged" captures the essence of active participation, commitment, or occupation in a multifaceted way.
  1. But he went to the house of a certain tailor, and engaged himself as his servant.
    — from The Red Fairy Book
  2. I immediately resolved on renewing my acquaintance with her, if she happened to be free, and after the opera I engaged a boy to take me to her house.
    — from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova
  3. So far, only our cavalry and the advance of Lee's army were engaged.
    — from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant
  4. The engagement did not last many minutes, but the killed and wounded were numerous for the number of troops engaged.
    — from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant
  5. Five of our ships were engaged muzzle to muzzle with five of the French.
    — from The Life of Horatio, Lord Nelson by Robert Southey
  6. There in a small attic room I engaged in daily meditations and prepared my mind for the divine search.
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  7. During this period he was more or less engaged in plotting against his enemy the Cardinal, and hatching treason with Cinq Mars and De Thou.
    — from Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims by François duc de La Rochefoucauld
  8. He engaged me in a lengthy philosophic discourse.
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  9. Mrs. Bennet invited him to dine with them; but, with many expressions of concern, he confessed himself engaged elsewhere.
    — from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  10. To him it seemed as if they were really engaged to each other, although not a word had been spoken on the subject.
    — from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. Andersen
  11. When he returned the following summer I was engaged to be married.
    — from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

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