Literary notes about monstrous (AI summary)
The term "monstrous" is deployed with remarkable versatility, serving as both a marker of vast physical scale and a symbol of moral or emotional excess. In some instances, it functions as a precise, technical tool—as when Marlowe directs the reader to treat it as a trisyllable [1]—while in others it conveys an affectionate exaggeration that borders on the hyperbolic [2]. It is equally adept at amplifying darker themes, evoking images of brutal appetites and corrupt passions [3], and at transforming ordinary natural phenomena into scenes of overwhelming impact, as when a peacock’s tail becomes a vision of otherworldly grandeur [4]. Authors continue to harness the word to critique human folly and injustice, imbuing both physical descriptions and abstract ideas with a forcefulness that underscores the narrative’s dramatic stakes [5].
- OF SHAKESPEARE, i. 425.] Note 188 ( return ) [ monstrous] To be read as a trisyllable.
— from Tamburlaine the Great — Part 1 by Christopher Marlowe - And, finally, they all agreed that it was monstrous dear.
— from Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World by Fanny Burney - On all sides we see vanity puffed up out of all proportion; brutal, monstrous appetites.…
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The wind had blown the fog away, and the sky was like a monstrous peacock's tail, starred with myriads of golden eyes.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - Can destiny, then, be as malicious as an intelligent being, and become as monstrous as the human heart?
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
