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GCSE English Literature · key term
A reversal of the order of words or ideas in successive phrases, as in ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’.
Used by AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas
Paper 1
A reversal of the order of words or ideas in two connected phrases, as in ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’.
Revise: Act 1The chiasmus reverses the words — fair–foul, foul–fair — making their language enact the reversal of values.
A rhetorical pattern in which the order of ideas or words in one phrase is reversed in the next.
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A reversal of words or ideas in successive phrases, as in Leonato’s contrast between weeping at joy and finding joy in weeping.
Paper 1, Paper 2
Revise: Act 1The first line is a paradox: apparently opposite qualities become interchangeable. Its chiasmus reverses the words from fair–foul to foul–fair, creating a verbal pattern in which moral distinctions seem to collapse.
A reversed arrangement of words or ideas, as in ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’.
A reversal of the order of words or ideas in successive phrases, as in Leonato’s contrast between weeping at joy and taking joy in weeping.
An arrangement in which the order of elements is reversed in a following phrase, such as left-to-right followed by right-to-left.
Paper 2
A reversed arrangement of words or ideas, as in the movement from fair–foul to foul–fair.
Revise: Act 1The statement is a paradox: its contradiction suggests a world in which appearances and moral values cannot be trusted. Its chiasmus, fair–foul followed by foul–fair, makes the reversal memorable and seems to trap the opposing ideas together.
A reversal of the order of words or ideas in two corresponding phrases, as in the Witches' reversal of ‘fair’ and ‘foul’.
The repetition of words or ideas in reversed order, such as Leonato’s contrast between weeping at joy and taking joy in weeping.
Component 1
A structure in which words or ideas are repeated in reverse order, as in fair–foul followed by foul–fair.
Revise: Act 1Together, the witches declare, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair:”. This is both a paradox, which unsettles clear distinctions between good and evil, and chiasmus: fair–foul becomes foul–fair. The reversal introduces a world where something attractive may conceal danger.
A reversal of the order of words or ideas in successive phrases. Repeating the same words in reverse order, as in ‘weep at joy’ and ‘joy at weeping’, is also called antimetabole.
