Literary notes about misanthropic (AI summary)
Literary authors often use the term misanthropic to evoke a character’s deep-seated gloom or deliberate withdrawal from society. It can describe someone turned solitary by inner despair—as when a character’s mood shifts to a sullen detachment from others ([1], [2])—or it might signal an ironic or critical stance toward social norms, where even genial traits are overshadowed by a pervasive distrust of humanity ([3], [4]). In some narratives, misanthropy emerges as both a symptom of personal suffering and a commentary on the broader human condition, adding emotional depth and complexity to character portrayal ([5], [6]).
- Mirth such as theirs was debarred him for ever, and he had now become gloomy and misanthropic.
— from The House of Whispers by William Le Queux - I have remained all day by my fireside, in a despondent and misanthropic mood, and, still worse, in great bodily suffering.
— from Letters to an Unknown by Prosper Mérimée - As for my friend Bill, from being the pleasantest and most genial of fellows, he became a morose, misanthropic man.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 76, February, 1864 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various - Not many men have had so much reason as Diderot for becoming misanthropic; few men have had in them less of the misanthrope.
— from The New SpiritThird Edition by Havelock Ellis - It inclines one to hide, to sulk, to shut oneself away and become misanthropic.
— from The History of Sir Richard Calmady: A Romance by Lucas Malet - They call me 'misanthropic,' those wise folk who have never had their illusions rudely dispelled--who have never met despair face to face.
— from No Surrender by E. Werner
