Literary notes about philanderer (AI summary)
Writers frequently use the term “philanderer” to underscore a character’s unfaithfulness or a cavalier attitude toward love, often layering the label with irony or social critique. It can serve as both a pejorative marker and a nuanced portrayal of a man whose amorous exploits border on the farcical, as when a character’s lighthearted self-identification contrasts with the harsher judgments of others [1, 2]. In some works the descriptor is employed to satirize the ideals of modernity and romantic inconstancy [3, 4], while in others it dramatizes the fine line between charm and ignominy through understated humor and pointed commentary on societal expectations [5, 6]. This multifaceted usage enriches the narrative, offering insight not only into personal character but also into the broader cultural attitudes toward love and loyalty.
- I say, I believe I am not a deeply passionate chap at all; I believe I am just .... a philanderer!
— from Dear Brutus by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie - “You see, my career as a philanderer has only just begun.
— from Jacob's Ladder by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim - But, as he satirizes everything, himself included, he has his laugh at the Ibsen cult in “The Philanderer.”
— from The Connecticut Wits, and Other Essays by Henry A. (Henry Augustin) Beers - The first act of The Philanderer would have made Henry Becque smile.
— from Iconoclasts: A Book of Dramatists
Ibsen, Strindberg, Becque, Hauptmann, Sudermann, Hervieu, Gorky, Duse and D'Annunzio, Maeterlinck and Bernard Shaw by James Huneker - Bill Malcolm , universal philanderer, lent themselves to this quality of understatement.
— from Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, 1920-02-25 by Various - A clever philanderer, it was quite his pride that he did not boast of his conquests.
— from The Titan by Theodore Dreiser