Virtuousness
Ameliafaithful wife of William Booth, often in debtors’ prison, saved by her purity from the men who prey upon her. [Br. Lit.: Amelia]
servant who, despite threats, attempted seduction, and imprisonment by her master, remains chaste till their marriage. [Br. Lit.: Richardson Pamela]
thinks only of family; rejects king’s advances. [Fr. Lit.: Andromache]
epithet of Aphrodite, meaning “rejecter of sinful passion.” [Gk. Myth.: Misc.]
John Bunyan’s virtuous, well-traveled hero. [Br. Lit.: Pilgrim’s Progress]
gains socially admirable title of “good woman.” [Br. Lit.: Lady Windermere’s Fan, Magill I, 488–490]
noblest and purest knight of the Round Table. [Br. Lit.: Le Morte d’Arthur]
embodiment of virtuous self-control. [Br. Lit.: Faerie Queene]
“a piece of virtue.” [Br. Lit.: Pericles]
pure-minded sister of Nicholas; repulses all advances. [Br. Lit.: Nicholas Nickleby]
sweet maidservant who chastely repels disgraceful advances, marries her aristocratic pursuer, and attempts to reform him. [Br. Lit.: Richardson Pamela]
rejects advances of elderly men. [Apocrypha: Susanna]
the minimum number of anonymous individuals in each generation believed to have the virtues and humility to which the world owes its continued existence. [Jew. Legend: Encyclopedia Judaica,X, 1367]
full of grace. [Nurs. Rhyme: Opie, 309]
virtuous, long-suffering wife of Ashley. [Am. Lit.: Gone With the Wind]
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.