Literary notes about undertaking (AI summary)
In literature the word "undertaking" carries a versatile range of meanings—from a daunting, introspective task to a bold, adventurous enterprise. Authors use it to evoke the immense effort and inherent risks associated with pursuing a task, as when a character is dismayed by the gravity of his commitment [1] or embarks on perilous journeys [2, 3]. At times it highlights the commercial or formal nature of an endeavor, as seen in discussions of market ventures [4] or contractual obligations [5]. In other works, it captures both the heroic ambition and the existential duty behind a challenging project, lending a weighty, sometimes noble, dimension to the narrative [6, 7]. Thus, "undertaking" emerges as a term rich in connotation, bridging the gap between the personal and the professional, the trivial and the monumental.
- Mr. Nickleby was not sufficiently impressed with the deep and awful nature of his undertaking.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - ,” said the doctor, “I'll go with you; and I'll go bail for it, so will Jim, and be a credit to the undertaking.
— from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - To cross to the opposite shore was an undertaking fraught with danger to life and limb.
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. Andersen - For more than eight years this proved to be a highly successful undertaking, largely controlling the principal producing and consuming markets.
— from All About Coffee by William H. Ukers - One of the earliest [254] references to what a promisor was to have for his undertaking was in the action of assumpsit.
— from The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes - If I were engaged in any high undertaking or design, fraught with extensive utility to my fellow creatures, then could I live to fulfil it.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - And as to ourselves indeed, in undertaking this work of abridging, we have taken in hand no easy task; yea, rather
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
