Literary notes about spurn (AI summary)
Writers use "spurn" to indicate a forceful rejection laden with contempt or disdain. In many works, the word underscores both physical dismissal and emotional repudiation. For instance, Shakespeare deploys it with vivid intensity to shun unwanted attention or affection, as when one character boldly declares how he would reject another’s gaze [1] or dismiss a suit with derision [2]. Classical and epic texts also favor the term to show the stark refusal of fate or favor, as in Virgil’s treatment of honor and destiny [3], while moral imperatives in works like the Rámáyan call for not spurning virtuous counsel [4, 5]. In modern narratives too, "spurn" is a potent marker of alienation and reproof, capturing the deep personal and social conflicts that arise in the act of refusal [6, 7].
- or I'll spurn thine eyes Like balls before me; I'll unhair thy head; [She hales him up and down]
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - You say so: You that did void your rheum upon my beard, And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur Over your threshold; moneys is your suit.
— from The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare - What thou desirest, Trojan, shall be given; nor do I spurn your gifts.
— from The Aeneid of Virgil by Virgil - O, for thine aged mother feel, Nor spurn the virtuous dame's appeal: Obey, O Prince, thy mother dear, And still to virtue's path adhere.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki - The rule by Raghu's children kept Thou must not spurn to-day.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki - “I will answer for it, that mine thinks herself full as clever, and would spurn any body's assistance.”
— from Emma by Jane Austen - Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
