Literary notes about fluster (AI summary)
The term "fluster" has often been employed to evoke a state of hurried agitation or disarray, revealing the intricacies of human emotion in literature. In some works, such as in [1] and [2], characters explicitly reject disturbance yet inadvertently fall into a disorganized state, while Twain’s humorous narration in [3] captures the comedic side of being overwhelmed. Russian writers like Dostoyevsky and Chekhov repeatedly use "fluster" to mark moments of intense nervousness or confusion, as seen in [4], [5], and [6], underscoring the subtle interplay between self-possession and loss thereof in crises. Even in satirical contexts, like Rabelais’s playful twist in [7], the word serves to highlight both the absurdity and fragility of human conduct, making it a versatile descriptor that spans from earnest agitation to comically exaggerated bewilderment ([8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14]).
- no screaming,—happens beautiful,—I like to do everything quietly,—I hates all kind of agitation and fluster.”
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - But I have been, and am, in a strange fluster; and I suppose too, she'll say, I have been full pert.
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson - Why, they’d steal the very—why, goodness sakes, you can guess what kind of a fluster I was in by the time midnight come last night.
— from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - The gentleman in raccoon rummaged in a fluster.
— from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - “Take down the ikon,” Peplov whispered in a fluster, pale with excitement, and buttoning his coat as he prodded his wife with his elbow.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - Axinya asked softly, in a fluster, holding her breath; "and where is your cap, my dear?
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - A pox on that wind-broker Aeolus, with his fluster-blusters.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais - From their fluster and the broken phrases they uttered it was apparent they foresaw some trouble.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - But probably feeling himself that his fluster with the money made him look even more foolish, he lost the last traces of self-possession.
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - “Since that is how it is, lay the supper quickly,” Pavel Vassilitch cries in a fluster.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - "No, what Shabrin?" answered the gentleman in raccoon, in a fluster.
— from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - I spoke foolishly," cried Ivan Andreyitch in a fluster.
— from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - aturdir i fluster, perturb, stupefy; —do inconsiderate.
— from Doña Perfecta by Benito Pérez Galdós - The gentleman was in a fluster.
— from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky