Literary notes about rigidity (AI summary)
In literature, "rigidity" functions as both a literal descriptor of physical stiffness and a metaphor for inflexible attitudes or societal structures. It is used to capture the unyielding nature of bodies in moments of trauma or death, as when a character’s face assumes the "solemn rigidity of the dead" [1] or when a corpse is described with the "stern rigidity of stone" [2]. At the same time, the term conveys emotional steadfastness and dogmatic resolve, critiquing unchanging opinions and institutional strictness [3, 4, 5]. Thus, whether illustrating the physical constraints of a body or the mental barriers that hinder growth, "rigidity" emerges as a powerful literary tool that encapsulates the tension between life’s inherent dynamism and the stifling forces of order.
- But his whole face suddenly bore the solemn rigidity of the dead, and his expression did not change during the whole time of the drive home.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - I noticed that in less than a minute afterward his corpse had all the stern rigidity of stone.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe - She and the seventeen and many other women in Marlow were demonstrating that rigidity of opinion is detrimental to the interests of the growing State.
— from Goslings by J. D. (John Davys) Beresford - Consequently, it is the rigidity of Alceste that makes us laugh, though here rigidity stands for honesty.
— from Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic by Henri Bergson - It is in a state of rigidity, a state recognized and understood by the sociologist in his study of the evolution of nations.
— from Myths and Legends of China by E. T. C. Werner
