Literary notes about parvenu (AI summary)
In literature, the term "parvenu" is frequently used as a pointed descriptor for individuals who have recently acquired wealth or status, often with a critical or satirical tone. Writers deploy it to underscore the social awkwardness or pretentious behaviors of these upstarts, setting them in contrast to time‑honored aristocracy and established elites [1] [2]. Whether characterizing a figure who is both derided and pitied for trying to approximate old-world refinement or highlighting the tension between raw ambition and cultivated heritage, authors use "parvenu" to evoke both humor and criticism. Its usage spans various contexts—from theatrical satire to incisive political commentary—revealing the enduring cultural ambivalence toward sudden social ascent [3] [4] [5].
- The satirists have made fun of the parvenu for centuries.
— from FolkwaysA Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals by William Graham Sumner - His ambition is the common, not to say vulgar, ambition of the English parvenu , to found a “county family.”
— from Studies in Contemporary Biography by Bryce, James Bryce, Viscount - He, when going away, left me near her as an adviser, a guardian for the time, even a protector, yes, a pro-tec-tor—the parvenu!
— from The Argonauts by Eliza Orzeszkowa - One really must draw the line somewhere (as the Boston parvenu replied when asked why he had not invited his brother to a ball).
— from The Ways of Men by Eliot Gregory - By degree the young officer, the young squire, and the delicate-minded parvenu was seduced into the allurements of tobacco.
— from Memoirs of Eighty Years by Thomas Gordon Hake
