Literary notes about indisposition (AI summary)
In literature, indisposition is employed as a multifaceted term that can denote both physical ailments and a reluctance or feebleness of spirit. Authors often invoke it as a polite euphemism for minor sickness or fatigue, allowing characters to excuse themselves from social, political, or personal obligations—as when one character admits to a “temporary indisposition” to avoid further engagement ([1], [2]). At times it is used more broadly to suggest a deep-seated incapacity or even a hereditary predisposition that hinders progress or duty, thus functioning as both literal and metaphorical commentary on human nature ([3], [4]). In other instances, references to indisposition subtly reveal the interplay between physical discomfort and emotional or societal inconvenience, as illustrated by characters whose purported infirmities mask deeper issues or social retreat ([5], [6]).
- I was so exhausted that I had neither strength nor courage sufficient to resist the most trifling indisposition.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - “I want none; it was a temporary indisposition.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - And it is this innate, hereditary indisposition to work that, after all, is the greatest obstacle to emancipation.
— from Conflict of Northern and Southern Theories of Man and SocietyGreat Speech, Delivered in New York City by Henry Ward Beecher - At this time no change had taken place in the indisposition of the king.
— from The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria by E. H. (Edward Henry) Nolan - Indisposition was the excuse, and I thought Sir Percival looked, as well he might, a little annoyed when he heard of it.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - She began not to understand a word they said, and was obliged to plead indisposition and excuse herself.
— from Persuasion by Jane Austen
