Literary notes about sensuality (AI summary)
In literature, the word "sensuality" functions as a multifaceted symbol that can imply both physical indulgence and a nuanced aesthetic or moral quality. It is often used to denote carnal excess or the debasing influence of bodily pleasures, as when Hugo links sacred ritual with irreverent sensuality ([1]) or Dickens warns against succumbing to sloth and sensuality ([2]). At the same time, the term may also evoke a certain refined attractiveness or inner vitality, exemplified by descriptions of eyes that "carry sensuality" ([3]) or depictions where its intensity mirrors existential forces ([4], [5]). Across varied works, authors employ "sensuality" to critique moral decay, to evoke the allure of physical beauty, or to highlight the tension between higher spiritual pursuits and the temptations of earthly desire ([6], [7], [8]).
- A doctor, I mock at science; a gentleman, I tarnish my own name; a priest, I make of the missal a pillow of sensuality, I spit in the face of my God!
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo - I have had unformed ideas of striving afresh, beginning anew, shaking off sloth and sensuality, and fighting out the abandoned fight.
— from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - “One day,—again the sun was shining brilliantly—I behold man pass me uttering your name and laughing, who carries sensuality in his eyes.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo - This was what their love had become, a sensuality violent and extreme as death.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - The degree and nature of a man's sensuality extends to the highest altitudes of his spirit.
— from Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - sexiness, attractiveness; sensuality, voluptuousness.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - His thick lips are a strong indication of sensuality.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - Jasmine, Spanish Sensuality. Jasmine, Yellow Grace and elegance.
— from Language of Flowers by Kate Greenaway
