Literary notes about upbraid (AI summary)
The word "upbraid" is used in literature as a vivid term for reproach and blame, imbued with both personal and societal nuances. In some works, such as Smollett’s account in [1], it expresses intimate censure—a spouse admonishing another for infidelity—while in political rhetoric, as seen in Engels and Marx’s text [2], it criticizes broader social dynamics by holding the bourgeoisie accountable for revolutionary consequences. The term also appears in lighter contexts, for example in Barrie’s portrayal of a mother's gentle rebuke toward her children in [3], and in Suetonius’ narrative [4], where it denotes a more dismissive, almost satirical, reprimand. Throughout these various uses—from personal guilt in narratives like Fielding’s in [5] and [6], to abstract moral reflections in St. Augustine’s writing [7] and Santayana’s philosophical treatise [8]—"upbraid" consistently conveys the act of holding someone or something to account, demonstrating its flexibility as an expressive literary device.
- fainted away in the arms of her spouse, who had by this time seized her by the shoulders, and begun to upbraid her with her infidelity and guilt.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. Smollett - What they upbraid the bourgeoisie with is not so much that it creates a proletariat, as that it creates a revolutionary proletariat.
— from The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx - We are beginning to know Mrs. Darling by this time, and may be sure that she would upbraid us for depriving the children of their little pleasure.
— from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - And when she would upbraid any one with dulness, she said, “He was a greater fool than her son, Claudius.”
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius - His conscience, however, immediately started at this suggestion, and began to upbraid him with ingratitude to his benefactor.
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding - “You need not upbraid me with that, mother,” cries Molly; “you yourself was brought-to-bed of sister there, within a week after you was married.”
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding - And now was the day come wherein I was to be laid bare to myself, and my conscience was to upbraid me.
— from The Confessions of St. Augustine by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - [E] She would doubtless upbraid herself, like any sinner, for a senseless perfidy to her own dearest good.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
