Literary notes about mocking (AI summary)
The word "mocking" is employed in literature to convey ridicule, sarcasm, or the subversive play of nature and character. In some works it denotes a scornful demeanor or hint of irony within a character’s expression or tone, as when a character’s lips twist into a mocking smile that oscillates between jest and cruelty [1, 2, 3]. At other times, it extends into the natural world, where the term transforms into a symbol of life’s irony—whether describing a bird whose song carries an air of ridicule, or a landscape that seems to laugh at human pretense [4, 5, 6]. Moreover, this adjective can underscore the complexity of social interactions, where a mocking tone subtly challenges authority or exposes vulnerability [7, 8, 9].
- “I think a mocking devil possesses you to-night,” rejoined the Doctor, seriously.
— from Life in the Iron-Mills; Or, The Korl Woman by Rebecca Harding Davis - Here he looked mysteriously at Zametov; his lips were twisted again in a mocking smile.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The mocking smile did not leave his face.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The mocking bird does not live in the cold north.
— from The Story of My Life by Helen Keller - Perhaps the mocking bird is singing them to sleep.
— from The Story of My Life by Helen Keller - And the beauty of nature must always seem unreal and mocking, until the landscape [201] has human figures, that are as good as itself.
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson - “You are shockingly naive, prince,” said Lebedeff’s nephew in mocking tones.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - And then peals of mocking laughter rang through the air, and they guessed that this was another of the Fairy Carabosse’s unpleasant jokes.
— from The Red Fairy Book - “You don’t seem to want to tell us,” said Aglaya, with a mocking air.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
