Literary notes about provided (AI summary)
In literature, the word “provided” serves dual functions that enrich narrative detail and establish conditional relationships. On one hand, it is often used in a literal sense to indicate that someone or something is furnished, supplied, or cared for—as seen when a character is “provided for” with ample resources or necessary items, like tea in Grant’s quarters [1] or breakfast in the bakehouse [2]. On the other hand, “provided” introduces conditions essential to the narrative or dialogue, acting much like “if” to set a stipulation, as in “provided that I succeed” [3] or “provided only that we get out at last” [4]. Thus, from ancient texts such as the Mahabharata [5, 6] to modern novels by authors like Jane Austen [7] and E.M. Forster [8], “provided” is key to expressing both the act of provision and the conditional terms that drive character motivations and plot developments.
- Having made a good, long, social visit, we took our leave and returned to General Grant's quarters, where Mrs. Grant had provided tea.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. Sherman - Jude, finding the general attention again centering on himself, went out to the bakehouse, where he ate the cake provided for his breakfast.
— from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy - “I agree to pay you that sum provided that I succeed in making the augmentation myself with such matter as you name to me, which I will purchase.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - "What does it matter, some hours more or less, provided we get out at last?" "Yes," repeated Ned Land, "provided we do get out at last!"
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne - And having seen the hamlets and the cowpens provided for his son and having also beheld Santa, his great resentment was appeased.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - By me, however, hath the remedy been provided beforehand.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - A young party is always provided with a shady lane.
— from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - Give me a man—of course, provided he’s clean.”
— from A Room with a View by E. M. Forster