The phrase deus ex machina (Latin IPA: [ˈdeːus eks ˈmaːkʰina] (literally "god out of a machine") describes an unexpected, 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).
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]
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 Dante Alighieri's Inferno when a mysterious personage (variously identified) "sent from Heaven" clears the path of
fallen angels and opens the gates of Dis for Dante and Virgil to pass; and in Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain, where the titular deadly virus is rendered harmless by random mutation
(which itself is reminiscent of the end of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds). The device is a type of twist
ending. It is also used in Saving Private Ryan, when Tom Hanks' character, firing a pistol hopelessly at a slowly advancing Panzer,
is saved by the sudden appearance of an allied tank buster aircraft. A recent example of this
occurs in the film adaptation of Dan Brown's novel The
Da Vinci Code, where a bird is seen to disturb the killer just before he shoots the lead character, thus giving him
the opportunity to flee.
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.
References
See also
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