Literary notes about felon (AI summary)
The term "felon" in literature carries a rich duality that merges legal condemnation with dramatic characterization. In early modern drama, for instance, Shakespeare employs it with grim finality to denote a man in active rebellion against prevailing order ([1],[2]), while Ben Jonson and Dickens use it as a moral indictment of characters whose actions betray societal trust ([3],[4]). In legal and economic discourses, the word underscores penalty and disgrace, as seen in texts discussing punishments and revenue losses ([5],[6]). Authors such as Mark Twain and Bret Harte further the term’s legacy by invoking the image of the felon as a symbol of ignominy and downfall ([7],[8]), and even extended metaphors in poetry and antiquated herbal treatises reveal its versatile, evolving use ([9],[10]).
- I do defy thy conjuration, And apprehend thee for a felon here.
— from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare - I do defy thy, conjuration And apprehend thee for a felon here.
— from The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare - Who will not judge him worthy to be robb'd, That sets his doors wide open to a thief, And shews the felon where his treasure lies?
— from Every Man in His Humor by Ben Jonson - Do you know he is a convict, a felon, a common thief?’
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - In 1746, assembling to run contraband goods was made a crime punishable with death as a felon, and counties were made liable for revenue losses.
— from The Smugglers: Picturesque Chapters in the Story of an Ancient Craft by Charles G. (Charles George) Harper - 18, the exportation of wool was made felony, and the exporter subjected to the same penalties and forfeitures as a felon.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - Would he one day hear that she had died a felon’s death?
— from The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner - We're hunting a lost child, not a runaway felon.
— from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales by Bret Harte - Besides Amara Dulcis, some call it Mortal, others Bitter-sweet; some Woody Night-shade, and others Felon-wort.
— from The Complete Herbal by Nicholas Culpeper - The leaves bruised and laid to the joint that has a felon thereon, takes it away.
— from The Complete Herbal by Nicholas Culpeper
