

This type of paradox, also called verbal paradox or literary paradox, is the type we'll focus on in this entry. For instance, in Shakespeare's Hamlet, when Hamlet tells his mother "I must be cruel, only to be kind," he's using a paradox to express that his behavior, while it may appear to be cruel, is actually a form of kindness-but that's only if you interpret kindness to include harsh actions that may be better for everyone in the long run (Hamlet also turns out to be wrong since, by the end of the play, pretty much everyone is dead). The special ability of the figure of speech called paradox-which is to simultaneously seem self-contradictory and yet also reveal unexpected meaning-often depends on words that can be interpreted in more than one way.

#Vanquish definition literature how to
Here's how to pronounce paradox: par-uh-docks Literary Paradox in Depth

What is paradox? Here’s a quick and simple definition:Ī paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel of truth or reason.
