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Motifs
Definition of Paradox
A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel of truth or reason. Oscar Wilde's famous declaration that "Life is... read full definition
A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel of truth or reason. Oscar... read full definition
A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel... read full definition
Key Examples in Bleak House
Chapter 29
Explanation and Analysis—"Dead" Lady Dedlock:
When Lady Dedlock learns from Mr. Guppy that Esther's real last name is "Hawdon," she undergoes a ghoulish and visible transformation that paradoxically makes her seem both alive and dead. Dickens uses a simile to describe this state of extreme shock and torpor. After receiving this news, Lady Dedlock appears to Guppy to be
for the moment, dead. He sees her consciousness return, sees a tremor pass across her frame like a ripple over water, sees her lips shake, sees her compose them by a great effort, sees her force herself back to the knowledge of his presence, and of what he has said [...] her dead condition seem to have passed away like the features of those long-preserved dead bodies sometimes opened up in tombs, which, struck by the air like lightning, vanish in a breath.
Related Themes:
