Antithesis (plural-theses), a contrast or opposition,
either rhetorical or philosophical. In rhetoric,
any disposition of words that serves to emphasize a contrast or opposition of
ideas, usually by the balancing of connected clauses with parallel grammatical
constructions. In Milton's Paradise Lost (1667), the characteristics of Adam
and Eve are contrasted by antithesis:
For
contemplation he and valour formed,
For softness she and sweet attractive
grace;
He for God only, she for God in him.