Literary notes about liberate (AI summary)
The term "liberate" in literature has been deployed to express a wide spectrum of freeing acts—ranging from the literal emancipation of peoples and characters to the figurative release from outdated traditions and oppressive pasts. For instance, Thucydides uses the word to depict the act of freeing an entire community from political domination ([1]), while in Filipino popular tales, it conveys both the physical rescue of brothers and a plea for personal rescue ([2], [3]). In more abstract treatments, John Dewey leverages "liberate" to describe the educational process of freeing the young from the constraints of historical repetition ([4], [5]). Moreover, literary works such as Goethe’s Faust and Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo employ the term to capture dramatic rescues and transformative quests ([6], [7]), whereas historical narratives liken revolutionary endeavors to freeing nations or leaders, as seen in accounts of liberating kings or entire peoples ([8], [9], [10]). This diversity in usage underscores the word's rich connotation across genres—a metaphor for transformation, empowerment, and the reclaiming of autonomy in various realms of human endeavor.
- all the Hellenes inhabiting his country, whom the Peloponnesians, on the contrary, had come to liberate.
— from The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides - The hermit tells Juan how to avoid the enchantment, secure the bird, and liberate his brothers.
— from Filipino Popular Tales - Be kind to me, my friend, and liberate me!” “I shall obey the old woman in order to get my pay,” said the guachinango.
— from Filipino Popular Tales - The business of education is rather to liberate the young from reviving and retraversing the past than to lead them to a recapitulation of it.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - It must suggest the kind of environment needed to liberate and to organize their capacities.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - Take me thither, I say, and liberate her!
— from Faust [part 1]. Translated Into English in the Original Metres by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - “He pretended to know of an immense treasure, and offered vast sums to the government if they would liberate him.”
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - He was greeted by one of the Galician Zionist societies as the leader who, like Moses, had returned from Midian to liberate the Jews.
— from The Jewish State by Theodor Herzl - DESLONS, Captain, at Varennes, would liberate the King.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle - Three months would liberate Italy!
— from The Life of Horatio, Lord Nelson by Robert Southey
