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Literary notes about fear (AI summary)

The word fear is employed in literature as a multifaceted device that both shapes character behavior and enhances thematic depth. In certain texts, it is portrayed as an internal force that contrasts with faith and moral certainty, as when a steadfast individual overcomes it through belief [1] or when it becomes a reflection of internal conflict [2]. Meanwhile, narratives often use fear to drive suspense or moral caution, with some authors depicting physical manifestations of dread—characters trembling in the face of danger [3]—and others invoking divine warnings to instill reverence and humility [4], [5]. At the same time, psychoanalytical interpretations of fear reveal its roots in the human condition, exploring its origins and effects on behavior [6], while heroic tales frequently contrast it with courage, suggesting that fear is both a challenge to be overcome and a natural accompaniment to life’s trials [7], [8].
  1. But he who is full of faith is certainly under no fear; for there is an inconsistency between faith and fear.
    — from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero
  2. this I am assur'd, I feel such sharp dissension in my breast, Such fierce alarums both of hope and fear, As I am sick with working of my thoughts.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  3. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door.
    — from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  4. And he said to them: I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, and the God of heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  5. The fear of God is the way to happiness.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  6. We shall also recognize how significant it is that this first condition of fear appeared during the separation from the mother.
    — from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
  7. Can any man be courageous who has the fear of death in him?
    — from The Republic of Plato by Plato
  8. MACBETH. Go prick thy face and over-red thy fear, Thou lily-liver'd boy.
    — from Macbeth by William Shakespeare

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