- This article is about the rhetorical device. For the historical issue in Dutch politics, see Antithesis (Netherlands).
Antithesis (Greek for "setting opposite", from ἀντί
against + θέσις position) is a counter-propositions
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 simplistic description of dialectics is thesis,
antithesis, synthesis. It is the basic idea of yin and
yang. 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 present, 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."
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; but, on the other
hand, there is nothing more tedious and trivial than a pseudo-antithetical style.
Biblical
The Antithesis of the Law is the name given by 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 Jewish 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. Jesus never used the phrase "it has been said" when referring to scripture
anywhere else in the Gospels. An antithesis remains, whichever opinion one takes. Antithesis was the name given by
Marcion to a document in which he contrasted the Old
Testament with the New Testament.
In fiction
In fiction, an antithesis can be used to describe a character who presents the exact opposite as to personality type, moral
outlook, etc. to another character in a particular piece of literature. This does not mean however, that they are necessarily in
conflict with each other.
See also
References
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