Literary notes about tore (AI summary)
The word "tore" is employed with remarkable versatility in literature to evoke both physical and emotional ruptures. In some works, it denotes a vivid act of physical separation or destruction, as when Shakespeare rips something away from its owner ([1]) or when Fanny Burney describes an object being fractured into pieces ([2]). In other narratives, the term intensifies emotional turmoil—illustrating inner conflict or the shattering of bonds, as seen in the anguished cries that metaphorically tear at a character’s very heart ([3]) or the dramatic dismemberments that underscore personal and societal upheaval ([4]). Additionally, "tore" often magnifies the immediacy of action, conveying frenzied movement or forceful defiance in moments of crisis or rebellion ([5], [6]). Through its varied applications, the word enriches both the physical descriptions and the psychological landscapes of literary passages.
- I tore it from the traitor's bosom, King; Fear, and not love, begets his penitence.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - And in an instant he tore it into a thousand pieces.
— from Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World by Fanny Burney - But suddenly it was as though she had entered, and this apparition tore him with such anguish that his hand rose impulsively to his heart.
— from Swann's Way by Marcel Proust - You fail, or you go from my words in any partickler, no matter how small it is, and your heart and your liver shall be tore out, roasted, and ate.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Amra tore up the treaty, and sent back the fragments to the faithless Mahratta with defiance.
— from Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 1 of 3 by James Tod - Everywhere in its track it annihilated houses, tore off roofs, destroyed trees and crops.
— from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain
