Literary notes about rather (AI summary)
In literature, “rather” often serves multiple functions: it can indicate a preferred choice (e.g., “I would rather not come in” [1]), correct or refine a previous statement (“or rather continued” [2]), or convey a mild emphasis (“Rather quaint,” said Utterson [3]). Occasionally, it signals a shift in thought, as in “or rather of Astarte” [4], where the speaker adjusts mid-sentence. It also shows a subtle intensification of mood or description, as when the situation is “rather baffling” [5] or a person is “rather ill” [6]. Through these varied uses, “rather” emerges as a flexible tool that writers employ for nuance, emphasis, and precision.
- I would rather not come in.
— from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy - Achilleus at Alexandria, and even the Blemmyes, renewed, or rather continued, their incursions into the Upper Egypt.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - "Rather quaint," said Utterson.
— from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - The story of Pygmalion points to a ceremony of a sacred marriage in which the king wedded the image of Aphrodite, or rather of Astarte.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - I replied in clear French that I wasn't familiar with his language; but he didn't seem to understand me, and the situation grew rather baffling.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - I am rather ill, as you see.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
