Opposites Attract: Antithesis

Send us Fan MailGEORGE:All right, for the listener who doesn’t want a grammar lecture: antithesis is when you place two opposing ideas side by side—often in a balanced structure—so the contrast hits hard.Like: light and darkness, love and hate, life and death.Well let me see let's say give me a famous example one that listeners will recognize   SHAKESPEARE:Aye. Two wrestlers in one ring. The mind loves a contest.GEORGE:Now—here’s my big question. Why does antithesis feel so Shakespearean? It’s everywhere.SHAKESPEARE:Because men are everywhere divided.We want, and we fear.We swear, and we doubt.We praise, and we wound.Antithesis is not merely a device—’tis a mirror.GEORGE:So it’s not decoration. It’s psychology.SHAKESPEARE:Now you speak sense.GEORGE:Okay, give me a famous example—one that listeners will recognize even if they’ve only survived Shakespeare in high school.SHAKESPEARE:Then we go to Verona, where passion runs faster than wisdom.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.