Literary notes about obdurate (AI summary)
In literature, "obdurate" is frequently used to portray characters and entities that remain unyieldingly stubborn or hardened in the face of persuasion. Authors utilize the term to emphasize a will that is resistant to change—be it in a cold, unrepentant heart [1] or a bureaucratic authority that refuses to bend [2]. Figures in both dramatic and narrative works, from Shakespeare’s admonitions to Dickens’s character sketches, are described as obdurate to stress their severe intransigence and unresponsive nature [3][4][5]. This adjectival quality not only reinforces the portrayal of individuals with steadfast, unyielding convictions but also metaphorically extends to landscapes and institutions, thereby enriching the thematic interplay between human frailty and relentless defiance [6][7].
- There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart, It does not feel for man.
— from English Literature by William J. Long - The railroad managers were equally obdurate.
— from Woodrow Wilson as I Know Him by Joseph P. (Joseph Patrick) Tumulty - For my father's sake, That gave thee life when well he might have slain thee, Be not obdurate, open thy deaf ears.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - ‘Miss Dartle,’ said I, ‘if you can be so obdurate as not to feel for this afflicted mother—’ ‘Who feels for me?’
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - ‘Now, David,’ said Mr. Murdstone, ‘a sullen obdurate disposition is, of all tempers, the worst.’
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - But to convince the proud what signs avail, Or wonders move the obdurate to relent?
— from Paradise Lost by John Milton - Ah! obdurate earth, wherefore didst thou not open?
— from Divine Comedy, Longfellow's Translation, Hell by Dante Alighieri
