Literary notes about release (AI summary)
In literature, “release” is a versatile term that encompasses both concrete and abstract notions of freedom and relief. It is often used to describe the physical liberation of persons or objects from confinement or control, as seen when captives or prisoners are freed by force or official decree ([1], [2], [3]). At the same time, the word conveys a metaphorical unburdening—a letting go of emotional, legal, or even mechanical restraints. For instance, characters plead for the release of sorrow and pain, or for the easing of contractual or existential binds ([4], [5], [6]), while in other passages it denotes the literal action of a device or natural mechanism dispensing its force or contents ([7], [8]). This multiplicity of meanings makes “release” a powerful and flexible motif in narrative art, capable of evoking both tangible liberation and the abstract lift of weight from the human spirit.
- The prince thanked the maidens for their kindness, and promised to do his best to release them, either by ransom or by force.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - But when the order for his release came, Aksionov was already dead.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - The legal investigation ended in Madame Laure's release.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - Perplexed, uncertain, to remain 'Twixt hope and fear, is death, not life; 'Twere better, sure, to end the strife, And dying, seek release from pain.
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - She would allow nothing to come between her and the release of death.
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain - On what else, I ask, are the hundreds of women depending, who this hour demand in our courts a release from burdensome contracts?
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - The blades should be so rigged that, when striking an object in the water, they will quickly release, causing no strain on the canoe.
— from Boy Scouts Handbook by Boy Scouts of America - Release of the pressurized mixture gives Cricket its thrust.
— from Rockets, Missiles, and Spacecraft of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
