Literary notes about semblant (AI summary)
In literature, the term "semblant" is frequently used to evoke notions of appearance, pretense, or a deceptive façade. It is employed both to describe a physical likeness and to mask inner states or intentions, as seen when a character is depicted as merely the ghostly semblant of a knight ([1]) or when individuals dress their actions in a guise that hides true motives ([2]). Authors often use the word to signal that what is outwardly observable may be a feint—a calculated performance meant to mislead, as in characters feigning sorrow to conceal their real feelings ([3]) or pretending to act out of concern while harboring ulterior motives ([4]). In works featuring figures like Faux-Semblant, the term further underlines a thematic tension between genuine emotion and contrived behavior, blurring the line between reality and performance ([5], [6]). Overall, "semblant" serves as a pivotal device in literature to explore the complexity of identity and the artifice inherent in social interactions.
- For then some hope I might vnto me draw, But th'only shade and semblant of a knight, 4 Whose shape or person
— from The Faerie Queene — Volume 01 by Edmund Spenser - Making semblant of antiquity in all that they did, To th' intent that their subtlety by such means might be hid.
— from A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 03 - But because she would not it were known, outward she kept her countenance, and made no semblant of sorrow.
— from Le Morte d'Arthur: Volume 1 by Sir Thomas Malory - That other cause, I you assure, Is, why that I be coverture Have feigned semblant ofte time To hem that passen alday byme
— from Confessio Amantis; Or, Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins by John Gower - Among these Faux Semblant presents himself, and, after some parley, is received.
— from A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury - Fals-Semblant says— "Somtyme I am religious, Now lyk an anker in an hous."
— from The Romance of Names by Ernest Weekley
