Literary notes about jest (AI summary)
In literature, the term "jest" functions as a versatile tool that can both invite laughter and reveal underlying tensions. It appears in contexts ranging from playful banter and clever repartee—where a light, teasing tone is employed to defuse or critique situations—to expressions where humor serves as a mask for deeper, more earnest sentiments ([1], [2]). Some authors use "jest" to blur the lines between being serious and merely amusing, as when a remark that seems offhand is later shown to carry genuine weight or unexpected irony ([3], [4]). This duality is evident in passages where characters’ jesting remarks expose vulnerabilities or highlight cultural commentary, revealing that humor in literature is seldom trivial but often serves as a mirror reflecting the complexities of human relationships and societal norms ([5], [6]).
- 840. retort; banter &c. (ridicule) 856; ridentem dicere verum[Lat]; joke at one's expense. take in jest.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - A proper jest, and never heard before, That Suffolk should demand a whole fifteenth For costs and charges in transporting her!
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - Nay, then you jest; and now I well perceive You have but jested with me all this while: I prithee, sister Kate, untie my hands.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - In fact, man is a comical creature; there seems to be a kind of jest in it all.
— from Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - But hark ye; what cunning match have you made with this jest of the drawer?
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - I see that you take it amiss that I jest about such serious matters.
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
