Antithesis is a literary and rhetorical device.

If you are writing or editing, it is important to understand the major literary and rhetorical devices at your disposal… and just as important to be able to use them properly. Literary and rhetorical devices are proven techniques writers, editors, and speakers use to highlight ideas and keep readers and listeners interested. These techniques help you to emphasize the most important concepts in your text, deepen the reader’s interest in your story (if you happen to be telling one), and bring home the point, emotion, or situation you want the reader to think about.

Antithesis is the Greek word for “opposite.” It means putting two words or phrases of opposite meaning near one another. Shakespeare uses this device often to convey interconnectedness in extremes of experience and emotion. One famous example of antithesis comes from ROMEO AND JULIET:

“My only love, sprung from my only hate!” (I, v)

Another comes from HAMLET:

“To be, or not to be.” (III, i)

And here is an extended example using multiple antitheses (yes, that’s the plural) from Charles Dickens:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…” (A TALE OF TWO CITIES)

As the Dickens example shows, a single sentence may contain multiple statements that employ antithesis. The contrasting ideas may be functionally, rather than literally, opposite to one another when the writer wants to make a point about which idea should be seen as superior. For example:

“To err is human; to forgive divine.” (AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM, Alexander Pope.)

Use antithesis to balance and compare important concepts, to strengthen the case you are making in your writing, and to make a sentence more memorable and engaging for the reader.