Plot twist
A plot twist is a
Since the effectiveness of a plot twist usually relies on the audience's not having expected it, revealing a plot twist to readers or viewers in advance is commonly regarded as a spoiler. Even revealing the fact that a work contains plot twists – especially at the ending – can also be controversial, as it changes the audience's expectations. However, at least one study suggests that this does not affect the enjoyment of a work.[3]
Early examples
An early example of the romance genre[4] with multiple twists[5] was the Arabian Nights tale "The Three Apples". It begins with a fisherman discovering a locked chest. The first twist occurs when the chest is broken open and a corpse is found inside. The initial search for the murderer fails, and a twist occurs when two men appear, separately claiming to be the murderer. A complex chain of events finally reveals the murderer to be the investigator's own slave.
Mechanics
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Literary analysts have identified several common categories of plot twists, based on how they are executed.
Anagnorisis
Anagnorisis, or discovery, is the protagonist's sudden recognition of his or her own or another character's true identity or nature.[6] Through this technique, previously unforeseen character information is revealed. A notable example of anagnorisis occurs in Oedipus Rex: Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother in ignorance, learning the truth only toward the climax of the play.[7] The earliest use of this device as a twist ending in a murder mystery was in "The Three Apples", a medieval Arabian Nights tale, where the protagonist Ja'far ibn Yahya discovers by chance a key item towards the end of the story that reveals the culprit behind the murder to have been his own slave all along.[8][9]
Flashback
Flashback, or analepsis, a sudden, vivid reversion to a past event,[10] surprises the reader with previously unknown information that solves a mystery, places a character in a different light, or reveals the reason for a previously inexplicable action. The Alfred Hitchcock film Marnie employed this type of surprise ending. Sometimes this is combined with the above category, as the flashback may reveal the true identity of one of the characters, or that the protagonist is related to one of the villain's past victims, as Sergio Leone did with Charles Bronson's character in Once Upon a Time in the West or Frederick Forsyth's The Odessa File.
Cliffhanger
A
Unreliable narrator
An
Peripeteia
Deus ex machina
Deus ex machina is a Latin term meaning "god from the machine." It refers to an unexpected, artificial or improbable character, device or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction to resolve a situation or untangle a plot.[15] In Ancient Greek theater, the "deus ex machina" ('ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός') was the character of a Greek god literally brought onto the stage via a crane (μηχανῆς—mechanes), after which a seemingly insoluble problem is brought to a satisfactory resolution by the god's will. The term is now used pejoratively for any improbable or unexpected contrivance by which an author resolves the complications of the plot in a play or novel, and which has not been convincingly prepared for in the preceding action; the discovery of a lost will was a favorite resort of Victorian novelists.[16]
Red herring
A red herring is a false clue intended to lead investigators toward an incorrect solution.[17] This device usually appears in detective novels and mystery fiction. The red herring is a type of misdirection, a device intended to distract the protagonist, and by extension the reader, away from the correct answer or from the site of pertinent clues or action. The Indian murder mystery film Gupt: The Hidden Truth cast many veteran actors who had usually played villainous roles in previous Indian films as red herrings in this film to deceive the audience into suspecting them.
In the bestselling novel
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False protagonist
A false protagonist is a character presented at the start of the story as the main character, but then disposed of, usually killed to emphasize that they will not return. An example is Psycho's Marion Crane (portrayed by Janet Leigh), who is brutally murdered about halfway through the film. Another instance is the film Executive Decision, in which the special-forces team leader, played by highly-billed action star Steven Seagal, is killed shortly after the mission begins. The character of Casey Becker (played by then A-list actress Drew Barrymore) in Scream is killed in the first fifteen minutes. An example in literature and television is Ned Stark in the Game of Thrones franchise, who is killed before the end of the first book/season, despite receiving the most focus of the ensemble of characters.
Non-linear narrative
A
Reverse chronology
See also
References
- ISBN 978-1-58065-022-9. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-521-00351-3. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
- ^ Jonah Lehrer, Spoilers Don't Spoil Anything. Wired Science Blogs.
- ISBN 0-8143-3259-5.
- ISBN 90-04-09530-6.
- ISBN 978-0-19-920827-2. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ John MacFarlane, "Aristotle's Definition of Anagnorisis." American Journal of Philology - Volume 121, Number 3 (Whole Number 483), Fall 2000, pp. 367-383.
- ISBN 90-04-09530-6.
- ISBN 0-8143-3259-5.
- ISBN 978-0-19-920827-2. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-19-920827-2. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ "The ubiquitous unreliable narrator". My.en.com. 1996-03-26. Archived from the original on 2001-12-24. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
- S2CID 237579037. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
- ISBN 978-1-4443-2346-7. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ Joseph Twadell Shipley (1964). Dictionary of World Literature: Criticism, Forms, Techniques. Taylor & Francis. p. 156. GGKEY:GL0NUL09LL7. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-19-860883-7
- ISBN 978-9956-727-02-5. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-8126-9731-5. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ Adrienne Redd, Nonlinear films and the anticausality of Mulholland Dr., Prose Toad Literary Blog
- ^ "Plots Inc. Productions". Plotsinc.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-12. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
- ISBN 978-1-58046-256-3. Retrieved 23 July 2013.