Literary notes about semblance (AI summary)
Writers employ the term "semblance" to denote an outward appearance that may mask an underlying reality or a mere imitation of a true state. It is often used to suggest that what is seen is not the genuine article—for instance, an institution may possess only the semblance of organization ([1]), or a face might display a gentle countenance that belies deep contradictions ([2]). At times, the word underscores the tension between reality and pretense, as when a virtue or a state of mind is but a facsimile of what it purports to be ([3], [4]). Whether in describing physical shapes imbued with symbolic meaning or in hinting at the deceptive nature of social and spiritual orders ([5], [6]), "semblance" enriches literary narratives by challenging the reader to question what is merely a surface form versus what is authentically present.
- We see, however, a semblance of financial organization in the institutions of Alaric and his successors.
— from Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by P. L. Jacob - The face was as the face of a just man, Its semblance outwardly was so benign, And of a serpent all the trunk beside.
— from Divine Comedy, Longfellow's Translation, Hell by Dante Alighieri - But even to her own conscience she must trump up a semblance of defence.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - Thus the difficulty of ascension, in the present case, lay more in semblance than in reality.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe - Here we have religion and robbery the allies of each other—devils dressed in angels' robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise.
— from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass - Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on earth.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
