Literary notes about obscurity (AI summary)
Literary authors employ "obscurity" in multifaceted ways that evoke both the tangible and the abstract. In many works, the term paints a picture of physical darkness or an atmospheric veil, as when fog, twilight, or shaded corners confine characters within murky settings [1, 2, 3]. At the same time, obscurity often symbolizes the state of being unknown or misunderstood, reflecting the struggles of individuals emerging from anonymity or grappling with ambiguous ideas [4, 5, 6]. Philosophical and theological texts further harness the word to underscore the challenge of attaining clear understanding amid the inherent vagueness of complex subjects [7, 8, 9]. Thus, across genres and eras, "obscurity" remains a versatile literary device, capable of deepening both the sensory setting and the intellectual landscape of a narrative.
- A hound started from a dark corner with a growl, but was immediately kicked by the old man into obscurity and silenced again.
— from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales by Bret Harte - It was in one of these moments of obscurity, that she observed a small and lambent flame, moving at some distance on the terrace.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe - The faint beams of the rising Moon scarcely could pierce through the gothic obscurity of the Church.
— from The Monk: A Romance by M. G. Lewis - He has now emerged from obscurity, and blazes out in all the tinsel of the times.
— from The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by T. Smollett - She could not imagine that a man of his spirit and disposition would live so long in obscurity.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. Smollett - [123] There is great obscurity and uncertainty of the text here.
— from The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius - But when we have pushed up definitions to the most simple ideas, and find still some ambiguity and obscurity; what resource are we then possessed of?
— from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume - If the manner of the Messiah had been clearly foretold, there would have been no obscurity, even for the wicked.
— from Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal - The chief obstacle, therefore, to our improvement in the moral or metaphysical sciences is the obscurity of the ideas, and ambiguity of the terms.
— from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume
