Rhetorical Devices: Antithesis

In this sixth article on rhetorical devices, we take a look at the antithesis.  The antithesis is a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.  It comes to us from late Middle English, where it originally denoted the substitution of one grammatical case for another; from late Latin; from Greek, before that.

Antithesis is originally from Greek, “antitithenai”, from “anti” (ἀντί), which means “setting opposite”, and “tithenai” (θέσις), which means “placing”.  The plural of antithesis is antitheses.  It is used as both a rhetorical and literary device as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses a previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together for contrasting effect.  Parallelism of expression serves to emphasise opposition of ideas in antitheses.

An antithesis must always contain two ideas within a single statement.  Whilst the ideas may not be structurally opposite, they serve to be functionally opposite when comparing two ideas for emphasis.  Aristotle said the use of an antithesis enhances the audience understanding of the point the speaker is trying to make.  This comparison of two situations or ideas makes choosing the correct one simpler.  Aristotle further stated that the use of antithesis in rhetoric is similar to syllogism due to the presentation of two conclusions within a statement.

An antithesis is used to strengthen an argument by using either exact opposites or contrasting ideas, but it may include both.  They typically make the argument memorable. In rhetoric itself, the antithesis is a figure of speech which involve highlighting a contrast in the ideas by an obvious contrast in the words, clauses, or sentences, within a parallel grammatical structure.  The following are some examples of antitheses, many taken from Aristotle’s “On Rhetoric” itself.

Marcus Tullius Cicero said, “I defended the Republic as a young man; I shall not desert her now that I am old.”  Here, the antithesis is a simple statement contrasting two things, using a parallel structure.

“Man proposes, God Disposes,” is a common antithesis of unknown origin.  This is what we call a double antithesis, where “man” is opposed to “God”, and “proposes” contrasts with “Disposes”.

This passage, from the Gospel according to Matthew, the point made is emphasised by first being contrasted with its negative:

Matthew 10:34

³⁴ Do not imagine that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have come to bring not peace, but a sword.

Shaykh Abu Muhammad Sa’adi Muswlih ad-Din ibn ‘Abdullah ash-Shirazi (q.s.), the Sufi poet simply known as Sa’adi of Shirazi, wrote, “Two things show feebleness of mind: holding your breath at the time for speaking, and speaking when you should be silent.”  This involves a chiasmus, where the contrasted words switch places.

Then there is John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s famous line from his 1961 inauguration speech, where he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”  This is an example of a negative-positive antithesis, and the chiasmus-antithesis, combined.

As can be seen, an antithesis gives depth to an idea by providing contrast.  It is a simple way of making a pithy statement profound.