Literary notes about unconscious (AI summary)
In literature, the term "unconscious" is employed in diverse ways to evoke layers of meaning. It can denote a physical state of unresponsiveness or altered behavior, as when a character, overcome by external forces, exhibits actions beyond deliberate control ([1], [2], [3], [4]). At times it describes a mental state where individuals remain unaware of their thoughts or the impact of their actions, suggesting a subtle yet significant inner life ([5], [6], [7], [8]). Moreover, authors often invoke the notion of the unconscious as a repository of repressed desires and suppressed impulses, lending a psychological depth to narratives that explore hidden motivations and symbolic dreams ([9], [10], [11], [12]). In these varied contexts, "unconscious" serves as a bridge between the tangible physical experience and the elusive terrain of inner emotions and instincts, enriching character portrayals and thematic complexity throughout literary works ([13], [14], [15]).
- The man or woman, who is possessed by [ 24 ] the demon, begins to make unconscious movements, and is made to speak the truth.
— from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7 by Edgar Thurston - At the same moment I fell down on the deck as though mortally wounded, and lay in an unconscious state for two hours.
— from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. Evans-Wentz - But, Oliver felt it not, as it beat against him; for he still lay stretched, helpless and unconscious, on his bed of clay.
— from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens - She screamed and fell unconscious on his shoulder.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - Sibyl, however, was quite unconscious of the effect she was producing.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - The client looked scared, but bewildered too, as if he were unconscious what he had done.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Probably she was unconscious of her own movements; but this very unconsciousness added to the offensiveness of their suggested meaning.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Margaret was so unconscious of herself, and so much amused by watching other people, that she never thought whether she was left unnoticed or not.
— from North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell - Or can you doubt that this joke was already present in the dream, as the unconscious factor of the element, "canal."
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud - The mechanism of the dream-work and the unconscious wish that is hidden in the dream are beyond the reach of all foreign influences.
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud - It is long outlived, to-day it can be present only in the unconscious and as an empty, emotionless memory, but not as a strong impulse.
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud - Deep-rooted and powerful as is still the effect of Bushido, I have said that it is an unconscious and mute influence.
— from Bushido, the Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe - Unconscious of what air I breathe, I stand Naked, defenceless on a narrow land.
— from The Odyssey by Homer - In a deeper sense, style is the man, that is, the unconscious expression of the writer's own personality.
— from English Literature by William J. Long - There she lay, unconscious that I was looking at her—quiet, more quiet than I had dared to hope, but not sleeping.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
