Literary notes about gravity (AI summary)
In literature, "gravity" is a versatile term that conveys both literal weight and figurative seriousness. It frequently characterizes a character’s demeanor, suggesting composure or solemnity in speech and action, as seen when a face shifts from indignant to steady gravity [1] or when a character exudes a measured dignity in conversation [2], [3]. At times, it carries an ironic or affected tone that underscores the formality or absurdity of a situation [4], [5]. Beyond individual comportment, the word is also employed metaphorically to suggest an inescapable, almost physical pull—invoking the immutable forces that govern life and even influencing philosophical discourse on the human condition [6], [7]. Furthermore, in scientific and technical contexts, "gravity" retains its literal application in describing weight or balance [8], [9], interweaving precision with poetic nuance throughout literary works.
- The expression of his face changed gradually from indignant contempt to a composed and steady gravity.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - When they came, he encircled Ada with one arm in his fatherly way and addressed himself to Richard with a cheerful gravity.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - “Mr. Pip,” he replied, with gravity, “Walworth is one place, and this office is another.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - “And are you really then in earnest?” cries the lady, with an affected gravity.
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding - 'Let it alone,' said Backus, with drunken gravity.
— from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain - It resides, so to speak, at his centre of gravity, at the heart and magnetic focus of his complex endowment.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - This oppressive and paralysing sense of guilt and of sin is what Nietzsche refers to when he speaks of “the spirit of gravity.”
— from Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - 162 Position of the center of gravity; form of the point.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - W. 1·80 3·14 Silica Alumina Sesquioxide of Iron Protoxides of Iron and Manganese Lime Magnesia Potash Soda Other constituents Specific gravity AUGITE.
— from The Fables of Aesop by Aesop
