Literary notes about antithetic (AI summary)
In literature, "antithetic" is employed to create striking contrasts and to underscore the interplay of opposing ideas or stylistic elements. Authors use the term to describe everything from contrasting character traits, as when a persona is depicted as inherently opposed to societal norms [1], to the deliberate formulation of conflicting phrases that lend a dynamic balance to a text [2, 3]. It also functions as a critical tool in theoretical discourse, where differing doctrines or concepts are positioned as mutually exclusive forces—consider the discussion of antithetic theories about the nature of the state [4] or the juxtaposition of free will against its excess [5]. Thus, whether highlighting the deliberate construction of a narrative or critiquing philosophical divides, "antithetic" serves as a powerful descriptor of opposition in literature [6, 7].
- He is not so much a simple being of nature as a being antithetic to society.
— from Homer's OdysseyA Commentary by Denton Jaques Snider - There was the graceful compliment, the antithetic description, the witty repartee.
— from The Young SeigneurOr, Nation-Making by W. D. (William Douw) Lighthall - Antithetic terms or clauses usually take opposite inflections; generally, the former has the rising , and the latter the falling inflection.
— from Sanders' Union Fourth Reader Embracing a Full Exposition of the Principles of Rhetorical Reading; with Numerous Exercises for Practice, Both in Prose and Poetry, Various in Style, and Carefully Adapted to the Purposes of Teaching in Schools of Every Grade by Charles W. (Charles Walton) Sanders - Today, that is to say, as in the past, antithetic theories of the nature of the State hinge, in essence, upon the problem of its sovereignty.
— from Political Thought in England from Locke to Bentham by Harold Joseph Laski - The reaction from this (which was a kind of nihilism or anarchy), was to declare the antithetic excess of free will.
— from Legends of Florence: Collected from the People, First Series by Charles Godfrey Leland - It was to the planning of country mansions exactly what the antithetic manner is to literature: both give the spice of sharp contrast.
— from Summer Days in Shakespeare Land by Charles G. (Charles George) Harper - These two parallel and antithetic clauses bring out striking complementary relations between God and the collective Israel.
— from Expositions of Holy Scripture: Isaiah and Jeremiah by Alexander Maclaren
