antithesis

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Antithesis (Greek for "setting opposite", from ἀντί "against" + θέσις "position") is a counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition. In setting the opposite, an individual brings out of a contrast in the meaning (eg., the definition, interpretation, or semantics) by an obvious contrast in the expression.

Description

A simple enumeration of the elements of dialectics is that of thesis, antithesis, synthesis. Hell is the antithesis of Heaven; disorder is the antithesis of order. It is the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, usually in a balanced way. In rhetoric, it is a figure of speech involving the bringing out of a contrast in the ideas by an obvious contrast in the words, clauses, or sentences, within a parallel grammatical structure, as in the following:

"When there is need of silence, you speak, and when there is need of speech, you are dumb; when, you wish to be absent, and when absent, you desire to be present; in peace you are for war, and in war you long for peace; in council you descant on bravery, and in the battle you tremble."

Antithesis is sometimes double or alternate, as in the appeal of Augustus:

"Listen, young men, to an old man to whom old men were glad to listen when he was young."

Some other examples of antithesis are:

a) Man proposes, God disposes.

b) Give everyman thy ear, but few thy voice.

c) Many are called, but few are chosen.

Among English writers who have made the most abundant use of antithesis are Pope, Young, Johnson, and Gibbon; and especially Lyly in his Euphues. It is, however, a much more common feature in French than in English; while in German, with some striking exceptions, it is conspicuous by its absence. The familiar phrase “Man proposes: God disposes” is an example of antithesis, as is John Dryden's description in “The Hind and the Panther”: “Too black for heaven, and yet too white for hell.”

The force of the antithesis is increased if the words on which the beat of the contrast falls are alliterative, or otherwise similar in sound. It gives an expression greater point and vivacity than a judicious employment of this figure.

In literary fiction

In literary fiction, an antithesis can be used to describe a character who presents the exact opposite as to personality type or moral outlook to another character in a particular piece of literature. Some examples of an antithesis in popular literature include the characters of Dumbledore and Voldemort in Harry Potter, the doctor and Kino in The Pearl, Théoden and Denethor in The Lord of the Rings, and Aslan and the White Witch in "The Chronicles of Narnia". This does not mean however, that they are necessarily in conflict with each other.

Antithesis is also a rhetorical figure of speech, often used in both poetry and prose.

Not that I loved Cæsar less, but that I loved Rome more.

(William Shakespeare, "Julius Cæsar," Act 3, scene 2, 22)

My only love sprung from my only hate"

(Juliet when she finds Romeo is a member of the Montague family and therefore an enemy of her)

In the Bible

The Antithesis of the Law is the name given by some New Testament scholars to a section of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:17–48, in which Jesus is reported as taking six well known prescriptions of the Mosaic Law, and calling on his followers to do more than the law requires. The best known is perhaps his teaching on retaliation in Matthew 5:38,

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." (KJB).

The antithesis arises from the turn of phrase, repeated with minor variations in each of the six sayings,

"Ye have heard that it hath been said... But I say unto you...".

Protestant scholars since the Reformation have generally believed that Jesus was setting His teaching over against false interpretations of the law current at the time. The Jewish Encyclopedia: Brotherly Love states:

"As Schechter in "J. Q. R." x. 11, shows, the expression "Ye have heard .." is an inexact translation of the rabbinical formula (שןמע אני), which is only a formal logical interrogation introducing the opposite view as the only correct one: "Ye might deduce from this verse [Lev 19:18] that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy, but I say to you the only correct interpretation is, Love all men, even thine enemies.""

Antithesis was the name given by Marcion to a document in which he contrasted the Old Testament with the New Testament.

See also

• Alternate hypothesis
• Dialectical materialism
• Hegelian dialectic
• Rhetorical device

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.