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Literary notes about lady (AI summary)

Literary authors often employ the term "lady" to convey respect, social rank, or an air of refined decorum. In many works by Shakespeare, "lady" is deployed as a courteous form of address that denotes honor and sometimes subtle irony, as when nobility is both exalted and gently mocked [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. At the same time, novelists such as Austen, Hardy, and Dickens use the word to mark the boundaries of class and gender, whether portraying a character’s genteel upbringing or emphasizing the refined qualities expected of women in society [9, 10, 11, 12]. Even in texts that blend folklore and myth, the term hints at power and enchantment—a mystical figure emerging from the mists of legend or the courts of chivalry [13, 14, 15]. This versatility in usage highlights how "lady" can both define a social role and evoke differing layers of personality and circumstance.
  1. Re-enter from the barge, Lord with Marina and a young Lady.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  2. And to make a sweet lady sad is a sour offence.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  3. My Lord Bassanio, and my gentle lady, I wish you all the joy that you can wish,
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  4. Not so, sweet lady; but too mean a servant To have a look of such a worthy mistress. VALENTINE.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  5. Thy Thisby dear, and lady dear!' QUINCE.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  6. I'll make my heaven in a lady's lap, And deck my body in gay ornaments, And witch sweet ladies with my words and looks.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  7. What lady is that, which doth enrich the hand Of yonder knight? SERVANT.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  8. You say you do not know the lady’s mind.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  9. The consequence of it is, that Lady Lucas will have a daughter married before I have, and that Longbourn estate is just as much entailed as ever.
    — from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  10. The young lady smiled, but made no reply.
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  11. "It's a nice article, and I know the old lady would jump at it," said he to himself.
    — from The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  12. Thus mounted, and with cloak and umbrella, she went off to the place of appointment—intending, if the lady were not there, to call at the house.
    — from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
  13. “Ah! Lady,” said he, “be not so sorrowful for this matter.”
    — from The Mabinogion
  14. [288] And another of his companions on his voyage from the visible to the invisible was his life-guardian Nimue, the lady of the lake.
    — from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. Evans-Wentz
  15. Then come thy way, said Sir Tristram, and bring the child to the lady again.
    — from Le Morte d'Arthur: Volume 1 by Sir Thomas Malory

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