juxtaposition technique in literature

Explore the literary technique of juxtaposition as it uses comparison and contrast to spark meaning. Read a thorough definition, as well as example poems,

What Is Juxtaposition?

If you've ever been on a successful first date, it may have been successful because the person surprised you. For instance, if your first impression of a girl was that she was shy and reserved, but then she started cracking hilarious jokes when she felt at ease with you, you might have felt intrigued because your assumptions or expectations were turned upside down.

Similarly, juxtaposition in literature, or the side-by-side placement of two seemingly unrelated concepts, can ignite interest and keep a reader up all night just to see what happens next. Juxtaposition is a literary technique that relies on comparison and contrast for its resonance with an audience.

Take a look at the first paragraph from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities:

'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way...'

The novel is set in France, in the years leading up to the revolution, and continues throughout to use juxtaposition to show the discord that sparked the popular uprising that overthrew the French monarchy. In the book, when the peasantry and the aristocracy are placed side by side, a reader can truly dive into the atmosphere of the time and understand that revolution was all but inevitable.

Examples in Poetry

We can see another perfect example of juxtaposition in Dylan Thomas' villanelle that you might remember from the 2014 sci-fi epic Interstellar, 'Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night:'

'Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'

We often think of weakness and frailty when we think of someone who is close to death, yet the speaker in this poem calls upon his father's manhood and virility even to fight for life and put off death as long as possible. This is a juxtaposition because it places the action of rage and struggle against the action of lying down for death