Literary notes about former (AI summary)
The term "former" in literature serves as a marker of previous status or identity, often contrasting what once was with what is now. In narratives by Austen, for instance, it distinguishes between two linked entities by assigning one a bygone role, as when Sir John's gratification is contrasted with that of his lady ([1], [2]). In historical writing and travelogues, "former" frequently indicates remnants of an earlier era or condition, evoking lost landscapes, past settlements, or prior systems as seen in references to ancient cold periods or abandoned communities ([3], [4]). In philosophical and reflective works, it underscores transformation or the passage of time by recalling homes, friendships, or inherited characteristics that belong to an earlier phase ([5], [6]). Thus, "former" enriches the narrative by imbuing it with a sense of temporal continuity and change.
- The former was for Sir John's gratification, the latter for that of his lady.
— from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - No smile, no continued observance attended it; his eyes were immediately returned to their former direction.
— from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - Throughout a large part of the United States, erratic boulders and scored rocks plainly reveal a former cold period.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - 3. A former settlement in Cades cove, on Cove creek, in Blount county, Tennessee.
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney - The contest remained long undecided, but when they paused to rest, the Kalevide drew out the hat, and wished to resume his former size and strength.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - For, as is shown in the Hitopadeça and elsewhere, fate is nothing else than the result of action done in a former birth.
— from A History of Sanskrit Literature by Arthur Anthony Macdonell
