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Literary notes about box (AI summary)

The term "box" in literature is remarkably versatile, functioning both as a concrete container and as a metaphorical device. It often denotes a physical receptacle—whether holding wine for a gentleman as in [1], safeguarding secrets or cherished items like in [2] and [3], or even acting as a stage prop, such as the gear-box in a motor car referenced in [4] and [5]. At the same time, "box" is employed figuratively to encapsulate abstract ideas; for instance, it becomes a symbol for a repository of miseries and hope in [6] or a surprising conscience likened to a jack-in-a-box in [7]. Additionally, the word extends to designate structured spaces like theatre boxes ([8], [9], [10]), and it even serves as a playful insult in [11]. Through these varied examples spanning genres and eras—from classics by Dickens and Austen to works by Twain, Wilde, and beyond—the literary use of "box" underscores its capacity to hold a wealth of meaning, both tangible and intangible.
  1. ‘Bottle of wine to the gentleman on the box.
    — from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
  2. Within the lid of the box, I carefully graved with my scissors' point certain initials.
    — from Villette by Charlotte Brontë
  3. On the table, there was a box of letter-paper, and the black pearl was concealed in that box.
    — from The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar by Maurice Leblanc
  4. Gear-box of motor car, 105 .
    — from How it Works by Archibald Williams
  5. —The gear-box of a motor car.
    — from How it Works by Archibald Williams
  6. 640 They put into her hands an elegant box, containing all sorts of miseries and misfortunes; but Hope was placed at the bottom of it.
    — from Bacon's Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients by Francis Bacon
  7. I always keep my conscience as tight shut up as a jack-in-a-box, for when it jumps into existence it surprises me by its size.
    — from North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
  8. When I was young I often went to the theatre, and nowadays my family takes a box twice a year and carries me off for an airing there.
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  9. She did manage to inquire at the box-office, however.
    — from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser
  10. “Would you mind coming to the box-office a few moments before you dress?” observed the manager, in addition.
    — from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser
  11. You know you did, sauce-box.
    — from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson

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