Literary notes about wrap (AI summary)
In literature, wrap performs a variety of roles that span the literal and the metaphorical. At its most tangible, it describes the act of enclosing objects or bodies—whether fastening a cloak around one's shoulders for warmth ([1], [2], [3]), swathing a victim in preparation for ritual or violence ([4], [5]), or even enclosing food and other items for preservation or presentation ([6], [7]). Its usage often extends into the symbolic realm, as characters may be depicted as wrapping themselves in emotions or abstract states, such as darkness or secrecy ([8], [9]), suggesting both a protective measure and a form of concealment. This versatility transforms the simple term into a powerful literary device that can physically clothe, obscure, and transform its subject.
- “Mother said I must tell you to keep out o’ doors as much as you could, even when it rains a bit, so as tha’ wrap up warm.”
— from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - If you are not warm enough, you may take my cloak yonder; wrap it about you, and sit down in the arm-chair: there,—I will put it on.
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë - In the autumn or winter, a fur coat will do double service for coat and wrap.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post - Lastly, it was his custom to wrap the stranger in a sheaf, cut off his head with a sickle, and carry away his body, swathed in the corn-stalks.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - You are to touch your warts with as many little stones as you have warts; then wrap the stones in an ivy leaf, and throw them away in a thoroughfare.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - Athos called Grimaud, pointed to a large basket which lay in a corner, and made a sign to him to wrap the viands up in the napkins.
— from The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - WHEN THE CRANE IS DONE, WRAP IT IN A HOT TOWEL, AND PULL THE HEAD OFF
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - I have felt his soul wrap itself in darkness majestically as in a garment.
— from The World I Live In by Helen Keller - I wrap and shroud myself into the storm that is to blind and carry me away with the fury of a sudden and insensible attack.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne
