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Literary notes about polygamy (AI summary)

The term "polygamy" appears in literature as a multifaceted symbol—a neutral descriptor, a marker of cultural practices, and at times a vehicle for moral and social critique. In some works it is presented without overt judgment, as seen in scholarly or historical accounts that note its presence or absence in religious texts ([1], [2], [3], [4]). Yet other authors use the term to underline perceived moral decay or to signal a deterioration of societal values, as when it is linked to infidelity, degradation, or even racial decline ([5], [6], [7]). Moreover, in travel writings and historical narratives, polygamy is often used to describe the customs of diverse cultures—from the chiefs of Southeast Asia to the tribes of southern India ([8], [9], [10]), while in literary works like Joyce’s succinct mention in Ulysses, it appears almost as a standalone motif with layered implications ([11]). Across these examples, polygamy serves not only as a descriptive term but also as a lens through which broader debates about morality, gender roles, and social regulation are explored ([12], [13]).
  1. No express prohibition of polygamy is found in the New Testament."
    — from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I
  2. The scholarly William Ellery Channing could find no prohibition of polygamy in the New Testament.
    — from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I
  3. They allow no polygamy.
    — from New Atlantis by Francis Bacon
  4. [ 348 ] Polygamy is not prohibited, but is rarely practiced by the Vēlans and Mannāns.
    — from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7 by Edgar Thurston
  5. The people go naked, eat raw flesh, cheat, lie, and murder, and practice polygamy.
    — from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ by Kersey Graves
  6. Polygamy persists, involving its own type of morals and sentiment, and savage tribes show even more startling conventions.
    — from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
  7. A further conclusion obviously presents itself; if polygamy be necessary, woman must be inferior to man, and made for him.
    — from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
  8. Polygamy is held in honour among the Stiêns, although only the chiefs are rich enough to allow themselves the luxury of several wives.
    — from Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos (Vol. 1 of 2) by Henri Mouhot
  9. Polygamy is common, and a Yānādi is known to have had as many as seven wives, whom he housed separately, and with whom he lived by turns.
    — from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7 by Edgar Thurston
  10. Naturally Polygamy is not so general among the Mongols as when Asia lay at their feet.
    — from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Marco Polo and da Pisa Rusticiano
  11. Polygamy.
    — from Ulysses by James Joyce
  12. There is no use arguing about polygamy; it must be taken as de facto existing everywhere, and the only question is as to how it shall be regulated.
    — from The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Studies in Pessimism by Arthur Schopenhauer
  13. We all live, at any rate, for a time, and most of us, always, in polygamy.
    — from The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Studies in Pessimism by Arthur Schopenhauer

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