Literary notes about fragile (AI summary)
The term "fragile" in literature is a versatile adjective that authors employ to evoke both the physical delicacy and the emotional vulnerability of characters, objects, or even entire systems. It can describe the seemingly delicate beauty of a person, as when a character is portrayed as exquisite yet delicate and easily overlooked in its impermanence [1, 2], or as a subtle indicator of inherent strength masked behind a delicate exterior [3, 4]. At times, it spans into the realm of structural or societal impermanence, highlighting how certain systems or supports, however essential, are liable to collapse under pressure [5, 6]. In addition, the word often serves as a metaphor for transient human conditions—capturing everything from tender emotions to precarious physical states, as seen in the portrayal of delicate health or the precarious balance of fate [7, 8]. Ultimately, “fragile” deepens the reader’s understanding by suggesting that beauty, strength, and stability can be as elusive and ephemeral as the lightest porcelain.
- She was exquisite, but so fragile and fine that each time I looked at her it was as if for the first time.
— from Bliss, and other stories by Katherine Mansfield - How frail and fine and clear she felt, like the most fragile flower that opens in the end of winter.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - She was so gentle that she appeared fragile; but she was more solid than granite.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - I doubt not you will consider these praises the result of blind maternal affection, but there is a soul of iron in that delicate, fragile body.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - The archdeacon, seeing that all his exertions served only to weaken the fragile support which remained to him, decided to remain quiet.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo - The system is fragile, content takes second place, the human resources aren't talked about much and lots of new software is inundating us.
— from Entretiens / Interviews / Entrevistas by Marie Lebert - He had chosen this fragile creature, and had taken the burthen of her life upon his arms.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - It must then be on the plea of your son's delicate nerves and fragile constitution that I found a petition for our speedy adjournment."
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë
