Literary notes about unwittingly (AI summary)
The term "unwittingly" in literature serves as a subtle indicator that a character's actions occur without conscious intent, often leading to unforeseen consequences. Writers deploy it to show that events unfold by accident, yet with a deep impact on the narrative, as when a character inadvertently plays into a larger scheme or triggers fate’s hidden machinations [1][2]. It can underscore themes of irony or human fallibility, sometimes humorously highlighting a character’s naïveté, such as when casual actions set off a chain of events with dramatic twists [3][4]. Additionally, its use can evoke a sense of culpability or destiny intertwined with chance, as characters are portrayed as both victims of circumstance and agents of their own accidental misfortune [5][6].
- Unwittingly, the girl was playing more surely than ever into Morton's hand.
— from The Best Short Stories of 1917, and the Yearbook of the American Short Story - If I have not, and it is not true that you have come unwittingly to me as I have to you, I can say no more.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - Tongue-tied by inexperience and by excess of ardor, wooing unwittingly and awkwardly, Martin continued his approach by contact.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London - He closed his eyes and grasped the elbows of the chair, touching unwittingly the lady's arm.
— from The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois - His marriage with Lydie Peyrade repaired the wrong which he had formerly done unwittingly.
— from Repertory of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A — Z by Cerfberr and Christophe - Raskolnikov had unwittingly worked a revolution in his brain on a certain point and had made up his mind for him conclusively.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
