1. Antithesis places contrasting or opposing ideas in close proximity to highlight a tension or contradiction.
“Willing to wound” → desire or intention to hurt
“Afraid to strike” → fear or inability to act
These two ideas are directly opposed:
willing ↔ afraid
wound ↔ strike
The line captures inner conflict through contrast, which is the essence of antithesis.
2. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife.” → Irony (I)
Why Irony?
Irony occurs when the literal meaning differs from or contradicts the intended meaning, often producing humour or criticism.
The sentence claims to state a “universal truth”
But the reality (as Jane Austen subtly critiques) is:
- Society assumes wealthy men need wives
- Whereas, in practice, it is often families seeking wealthy husbands
- The exaggerated certainty (“universally acknowledged”) exposes the social hypocrisy of marriage norms.
3. “Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time.” → Assonance (IV)
Why Assonance?
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words to create musical effect.
Repeated long vowel sounds:
- still, unravish’d, quietness
- foster, slow, time
- The repetition of soft vowel sounds (especially i, o, and a) creates a slow, flowing, meditative rhythm, mirroring the poem’s theme of timelessness and stillness.
4. “And ice, mast-high, came floating by, as green as emerald.” → Simile (II)
Why Simile?
A simile explicitly compares two unlike things using “as” or “like.”
- Ice is compared to an emerald
- The comparison uses “as”
Purpose: to highlight the colour and brilliance of the ice
✔ Clear, explicit comparison
Year-wise PYQs
