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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
Paradox
Explanation and Analysis—The Moon God:
Collins uses intense, austere, and sometimes even paradoxical visual language in the first Prologue to show the splendor and scale of the Moon God's temple in India. He goes on to allegorize the British conquest of the subcontinent in the same passage. The anonymous narrator tells the reader that "Here, in a new shrine – in a hall inlaid with precious stones, under a roof supported by pillars of gold – the moon-god was set up and worshipped." The fragment of the sentence that describes the temple here appears in em-dashes, which separate it from the rest of Collins's writing. It is as if even the description's language is too splendid to be surrounded by other normal words.
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The Discovery of the Truth: First Narrative: Miss Clack: Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Breath and Poison:
Collins describes Rachel Verinder's complicated love for Franklin Blake (which she is implicitly confessing to Godfrey Ablewhite in the passage quoted below) through a paradoxical metaphor. In Chapter 5 of the First Narrative, Miss Clack overhears Rachel ask Godfrey what he would do had he ever loved someone who was "unworthy" of him:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And, suppose, in spite of all that – you couldn’t tear her from your heart? Suppose the feeling she had roused in you (in the time when you believed in her) was not a feeling to be hidden? [...] How can I make a man understand that a feeling which horrifies me at myself, can be a feeling that fascinates me at the same time? It’s the breath of my life, Godfrey, and it’s the poison that kills me – both in one!
Related Themes:
