Deus ex machina
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The phrase deus ex machina (Latin IPA: [ˈdeːus eks ˈmaːkʰina] (literally "god out of a machine") describes an artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot (e.g. an angel suddenly appearing to solve problems).
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[edit] Linguistic considerations
The Latin phrase "deus ex machina" has its origins in the conventions of Greek tragedy. It refers to situations in which a mechane (crane) was used to lower actors playing a god or gods onto the stage. Though the phrase is accurately translated as "God from a machine," in literary criticism, it is often translated to "God on a machine."[citation needed] The machine referred to in the phrase is the crane employed in the task. It is a calque from the Greek 'από μηχανής θεός' ápo mēchanēs theós, (pronounced in Ancient Greek IPA: [aˈpomɛːkʰaˈnɛːstʰeˈos]).
The Greek tragedian Euripides is notorious for using this plot device as a means to resolve a hopeless situation. For example, in Euripides' play Alcestis, the eponymous heroine agrees to give up her own life to Death in exchange for sparing the life of her husband, Admetus. In doing so, however, she imposes upon him a series of extreme promises. Admetus is torn between choosing death or choosing to obey these unreasonable restrictions. In the end, though, Heracles shows up and seizes Alcestis from Death, restoring her to life and freeing Admetus from the promises. The first person known to have criticized the device was Aristotle in his Poetics, where he argued that the resolution of a plot must arise internally, following from previous action of the play.[1]
[edit] Modern uses
The phrase has been extended to refer to any resolution to a story that does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and is so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, allowing the author to conclude the story with an unlikely, though more palatable, ending.
In modern terms the deus ex machina has also come to describe a being, object or event that suddenly appears and solves a seemingly insoluble difficulty, where the author has "painted the characters into a corner" that they can't easily be extricated from (e.g. the cavalry unexpectedly coming to the rescue, or James Bond using a gadget that just so happens to be perfectly suited to the needs of the situation).
Other examples are seen in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds where the Martians suddenly succumb to common viruses; and in Robert Jordan's 'A Crown of Swords' (Book 7 of The Wheel Of Time), when the mysterious stranger arrives just in time to pull Rand Al'Thor from the brink of the precipice in Shadar Logoth. In the Christmas movie, "Olive, the Other Reindeer", a package appears in the mailtruck Olive is trapped in. The packing is addressed to her, and it is from "Deus Ex Machina". It was a nail-file that let her escape. The device is a type of twist ending. Also, the popular TV series LOST incorporated this idea with the appropriately titled episode "Deus Ex Machina" where one of the main characters, John Locke, finds himself at a dead end and the "island" reveals to him in a dream what he needs to do.
Sometimes the unlikeliness of the deus ex machina plot device is employed deliberately. In Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera", a "riding messenger of the king" appears in the last moment, stops the execution of the story's criminal anti-hero Mack the Knife, and bestows an inheritable title of nobility on him. The very absurdity of this serves to underwrite the great lack of generosity and unselfishness in the capitalist reality that the story is mostly about.
The notion of deus ex machina can also be applied to a revelation within a story that causes seemingly unrelated sequences of events to be joined together. Thus the unexpected and timely intervention is aimed at the meaning of the story rather than a physical event in the plot. This may more accurately be described as a plot twist.
[edit] See also
- Reset button technique
- List of Latin phrases
- Character shield
- Suspension of disbelief
- Plot holebg:Deus ex machina
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