ENGLISH LITERARY PARADOX: A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

Paradox, as a phenomenon, along with the examples that illustrate it, is the subject of many books and papers in mathematics, logic, and philosophy. In the present article we will concentrate on the application of paradox as a distinguishing feature of a literary language. The paradox is the basic stylistic device, accompanied by other stylistic devices, in the works of the most paradoxical writer of the nineteenth century, as the most critics agree – O. Wild. Paradox in Wilde's masterpieces consists in stating the opposite of a received opinion; in other words, paradox contradicts not itself but common sense.