Literary notes about maligned (AI summary)
"Maligned" is deployed in literature to denote the act of unfairly discrediting or disparaging a person or group—a powerful tool to evoke injustice or poignancy. Often it marks the assault on character by external forces, as when a figure’s reputation is belittled not through fault of their own but by the venomous rumor or calculated slander, as seen in Galsworthy’s narrative where a character is judged by others’ ill-conceived standards [1]. In other texts, the word adds a flavor of irony or even humor, such as when the misrepresentation of trivial matters reveals deeper insights into societal pretensions [2]. There is also a broader application, where even entire communities or beliefs suffer from being maligned, underscoring the ongoing conflict between truth and the distortions of perception [3, 4].
- He made up his mind that Bosinney was maligned.
— from The Forsyte Saga, Volume I. by John Galsworthy - He had never been suspected of stealing a silver tea-pot; he had been maligned respecting a mustard-pot, but it turned out to be only a plated one.
— from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - The Mexicans are really a much maligned and slandered people.
— from Tales of Aztlan; The Romance of a Hero of Our Late Spanish-American War, Incidents of Interest from the Life of a Western Pioneer and Other Tales by George Hartmann - I was gratified to see so many people willing at last to do justice to a great and a maligned man.
— from The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Volume VIII.Interviews by Robert Green Ingersoll
