Antithesis Examples

Antithesis is the term used to refer to an author's use of two contrasting or opposite terms in a sentence for effect. The two terms are set near each other to enhance or highlight the contrast in opposite meaning.

Sometimes, characters in literary works are the antithesis of each other. The two characters are shown as opposites in order to highlight the good qualities of one and the evil qualities of the other.

1. When he became the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong said that it was a "small step for man, but a giant leap for mankind."

2. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness." Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

3. Snow White and the Wicked Queen in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfsare the antithesis of each other.

4. "To err is human; to forgive, divine." Alexander Pope

5. The poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost sets up a contrast between the terms "fire" and "ice".

6. "And let my liver rather heat with wine than my heart cool with mortifying groans. "The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare

7. Let's agree to disagree.