All 4 Uses of
despot
in
The Magic Mountain
- And he saw Giuseppe Settembrini—the tricolor in one hand, a swinging saber in the other, black eyes turned heavenward to seal his vow—at the head of a troop of revolutionaries storming the phalanx of despotism.†
Chpt 4.9 *despotism = a system of government with a ruler who has absolute power -- especially one who abuses that power
- They watched as a rousing tale of love and murder in the court of an Oriental potentate unrolled silently before them; scene after opulent scene sped past, full of naked bodies, despotic lust, and abject servility blind in its zeal, full of cruelty, prurience, and fatal desire—and then suddenly the film slowed to linger revealingly on the muscular arm of an executioner.†
Chpt 5.8despotic = typical of a ruler who abuses absolute power
- The despot was dispatched by a knife, his mouth opened for a bellow that no one heard.†
Chpt 5.8
- But should I grant the support of my soul to Sarmatian despotism, when it is about to put the torch to our most noble continent?†
Chpt 7.6despotism = a system of government with a ruler who has absolute power -- especially one who abuses that power
Definition:
a ruler with absolute power -- especially one who abuses that power