Literary notes about malice (AI summary)
Writers employ the word malice to evoke a sense of deep-seated ill will and to highlight the destructive passions within human nature. In some works, it paints a picture of deliberate cruelty and enmity—a calculated harm done for revenge or spite, as seen when a knight’s grief transforms into vengeful malice [1] or when a covert persecutor operates with a hidden agenda [2]. Other texts use malice to contrast a state of purity, urging that one remain untainted by negative impulses [3][4]. Additionally, malice is sometimes portrayed as an intrinsic flaw or a sign of character corruption, its presence marking betrayals and the ensuing personal and societal downfall [5][6]. This range of usage—from moral admonition to vivid characterization—demonstrates how malice serves as a powerful literary tool to deepen our understanding of human vice and conflict.
- But when Sir Gawain heard of his brethren’s death he swooned for sorrow and wrath, for he wist that Sir Lancelot had killed them in malice.
— from The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights by Sir James Knowles and Sir Thomas Malory - The widow employed her woman’s malice to devise a system of covert persecution.
— from Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac - But in malice be children: and in sense be perfect.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - And he was truthful, and free from malice, and of subdued senses.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - When I reflected on his crimes and malice, my hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the utmost extent of malice and treachery.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley