Literary notes about eulogy (AI summary)
Literary works deploy the term "eulogy" in multi-dimensional ways, using it both as a sincere tribute to character and as a tool for irony or political commentary. For instance, the refusal of a public figure to deliver a eulogy [1] highlights the term’s political resonance, while in another narrative a character’s warm homage [2] underlines its capacity for personal praise. At times, authors even illustrate the self-referential or ironic potential of the term, such as when a character contemplates writing his own minor tribute [3]. Moreover, scholarly and rhetorical contexts show that eulogy can serve as a vehicle for both honor and critique, as noted in discussions of its tempered use to simultaneously laud and question established values [4].
- Senator Hoar once declined an invitation extended by his own city of Worcester, to deliver a eulogy on Mr. McKinley, because of his Philippine policy.
— from The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912 by James H. Blount - Mr. Micawber then delivered a warm eulogy on Traddles.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - Mrs. Stanton always said that when the parting came she wanted me to go first, so that she might write my eulogy.
— from The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume V - Moltke’s eulogy of war, however, is somewhat modified by his additional statement that “the greatest kindness in war lies in its being quickly ended.”
— from Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay by Immanuel Kant
