Literary notes about impropriety (AI summary)
In literature, "impropriety" is frequently used to denote conduct that deviates from accepted social, moral, or political norms. It appears in narratives ranging from domestic and interpersonal interactions—as when characters negotiate acceptable behavior in family or courtship situations [1, 2, 3]—to broader societal or governmental critiques where actions are measured against abstract ideals of propriety [4, 5]. The term is often employed to signal disapproval or to underline a character’s momentary lapse in judgment, as when personal errors are recognized and later regretted [6, 7, 8]. In this way, authors across different periods and genres use "impropriety" to question established conventions and provoke reflection on the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
- It was before the passing of the Deceased Wife’s Sister Bill, so Mrs. Munt could without impropriety offer to go and keep house at Wickham Place.
— from Howards End by E. M. Forster - "If the impertinent remarks of Mrs. Jennings are to be the proof of impropriety in conduct, we are all offending every moment of our lives.
— from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - Elizabeth, however, had never been blind to the impropriety of her father's behaviour as a husband.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - There is, in fact, no recognised principle by which the propriety or impropriety of government interference is customarily tested.
— from On Liberty by John Stuart Mill - But there is something yet to be said of propriety and impropriety of writing.
— from Phaedrus by Plato - I do not censure her opinions ; but there certainly is impropriety in making them public.”
— from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - Do you think I am deceived as to the flagrant impropriety of my conduct?
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - It was not until it had been twice repeated, each time in a shriller tone, that he became conscious of the impropriety of his behaviour.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
