Figures of Opposition.

This group of stylistic devices is characterized by combining two or more words or word-combinations with opposite meanings in one context. Their relations are either objectively opposite or interpreted by the speakers as such. Here we refer antithesis and oxymoron.

Antithesis (Gr. opposition) – is a stylistic device presenting two contrasting ideas in close neighbourhood in order to stress this contrast.

There are several variants of antithesis based on different relations of the ideas expressed:

1. Opposition of features possessed by the same referent. E.g. I had walked into that reading-room a happy, healthy man. And I crawled out a decrepit wrack. (J.K. Jerome).

2. Opposition of two or more different referents having contrasting characteristics. E.g. Indeed, there is but this difference between us – that he wears fine clothes while I go in rags… (O. Wilde. The Picture of Dorian Gray).

3. Opposition of referents (having not only contrasting features) embracing a wider range of features. E.g. New England had a native literature, while Virginia had none; New England had numerous industries while Virginia was all agricultural. (Th. Dreiser. Tragic America).

Syntactic constructions in which antithesis is realized are diverse: from simple extended sentences to a combination of sentences, a paragraph. More often however it is found in compound or complex sentences with the conjunction “but”. Antithesis is based as a rule on parallel constructions whose components are expressed by the same members of the sentence: E.g. Jack: When one is in town one amuses oneself. When one is in the country one amuses other people. (O. Wilde. The Importance of Being Earnest).

Antithesis often goes along with other stylistic means: anaphora, parallelism, chiasmus and epiphora. Antithesis is widely used in all kinds of speech: fiction, publicistic, scientific and conversational English. It performs various stylistic functions: it stresses the contrast and rhythmically organizes the utterance. Due to the last quality antithesis is widely used in poetry in combination with anaphora, epiphora, alliteration.

More examples: While I am weak from hunger, Denis suffers from overeating.

Isabel’s salary was high; Isabel’s work was light.

Oxymoron (Gr. oxymoron – wittily-foolish) – is also a combination of opposite meanings excluding each other. But in this case the two semantically contrasting ideas are expressed by words syntactically dependent upon each other. E.g. Sweet pain, awfully nice, etc. And – elegantly threadbare, roundabout and dapper – the two walked side by side. (J. Galsworthy. The Broken Boot). The city ruined by civilization. I love you terribly.

The main structural pattern of oxymoron is “adjective + noun” (hot snow). The second productive model is “adverb + adjective” (pleasantly ugly). Predicative relations are also possible (Sophia’s beauty is horrible).

More examples: Painful pleasure.

I’m fearfully fond of you.

Oxymoron reveals the contradictory sides of one and the same phenomenon. One of the components discloses some objectively existing feature while the other serves to convey the author’s personal attitude towards the object (pleasantly ugly). Such semantic incompatibility not only creates unexpected combinations of words violating the existing norms of combinability, but reveals some unexpected qualities of the denotate as well.

The structure of oxymoron is extremely varied. Oxymoron is always expressed by a word-combination rather than a sentence.

Some oxymorons lose their stylistic value and become trite (a stock phrase): pretty bad, awfully nice. Original oxymorons are created by the authors. E.g. a damned saint, an able villain (W. Shakespeare), the littlest great man, the plainest beauty (O. Henry). Some titles of the novels are based on oxymoron: “Fearful Joy”, “Живой труп”, etc.

Paradox – is a figure of speech in which a statement appears to be self-contradictory, but contains something of a truth.

e.g. Cowards die many times before their death.

Paradoxically speaking, language study can be fun.

The child is father to the man.

Paradox contradicts an idea that seems to be right. Paradox can surprise because of its originality and cleverness. Oscar Wilde is known as ‘a master of paradoxes’ or ‘Prince of Paradoxes’.A very important feature of his individuality is paradoxality of his way of thinking. In his opinion, the truth of life is revealed to us only in the form of paradoxes.

Paradox can be realized through language units of different language levels. Its language realization can be varied: a word-combination, a sentence, a dialogical unit, a paragraph.

e.g.The way of paradoxes is the way of truth. To test Reality we must see it on the tight-rope. When the Verities become acrobats we can judge them. (O.Wilde).

Writers use different stylistic devices of semasiology to create a paradox. Linguistic realization of a paradox goes along with antithesis, oxymoron, simile, climax, pun.

we.g. I like persons better than principles, and I like persons with no principles better than anything else in the world. ( O.Wilde).

American girls are as clever at concealing their parents, as English women are at concealing their past. (antithesis).

I’m afraid that women appreciate cruelty. They have wonderfully primitive instincts. (oxymoron).

Beautiful sins, like beautiful things, are the privilege of the rich. (simile).

I’m not the champion of marriage, the real drawback to marriage is that it makes one unselfish. And unselfish people are colourless. They lack individuality (climax).

Women have no appreciation of good looks; at least good women have not. (pun)

In this case the combination of incompatible ideas (which is a paradox ) is based on polysemy. Here the mechanism of the paradox creation is very similar to the way of irony creation: S1> S2> S3.Lexcal unit ‘good’ has two meanings; 1) the first meaning is ‘pleasing’ (about appearance). It is realized in the first part of the utterance; 2) the second meaning is ‘morally acceptable, virtuous’. This meaning is realized in the second part of the utterance. Here we have combination of two meanings of the polysemantic word –„гарний(за зовнішністю)” та „доброчинний”.Both semes realize the author’s irony, which shows absence of the speaker’s respect to the given category of women.

Paradox was much used by the poets of the 17^th century, of whom John Donne is perhaps the best known. The following example is takenfrom one of his religious sonnets in which he appears to God to strengthen his beliefs. He packs three paradoxes into the last four lines:

Divorce mee, untie, or breake that knot again,

Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I

Except you enthrall mee, never shall be free,

Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.