Deus ex machina

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Deus ex machina 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., having the protagonist wake up and realize it was all a dream, or an angel suddenly appearing to solve problems). The phrase has been extended to refer to any resolution to a story which 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 box" that they cannot easily be extricated from (e.g., the cavalry coming to the rescue). A classic example of the use of this type of deus ex machina is in Homer's Odyssey; a more contemporary example is in Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain. The device is a type of twist ending.

The notion of deus ex machina can also be applied to a revelation within a story that a seemingly unrelated sequence of events are joined together by some profound concept. 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.

The Greek tragedian Euripides is notorious for using this plot device. The first person known to have criticized the device was Aristotle in his Poetics, where he argues that a good tragedy must remain plausible.

Linguistic considerations

The Latin phrase (deus ex māchinā, plural deī ex māchinīs) is a calque from the Greek 'ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός' ápo mēchanēs theós, (pronounced in Ancient Greek [a po' mɛ:kʰa'nɛ:s tʰe'os]). It originated with Greek and Roman theater, when a mechane would lower actors playing a god or gods on stage to resolve a hopeless situation. The phrase is often translated as "god from the machine". The machine referred to in the phrase is the crane device employed in the task.

The pronunciation of the phrase may be a problem in English. The Latin phrase would originally have been pronounced something like ['de.ʊs eks 'maːkʰɪ.naː], in other words with machina stressed on the first syllable, and with the ch pronounced like the letter "k"; but people may be influenced by the modern English machine ([mə'ʃiːn]), resulting in a mixed pronunciation. Some English speakers face further difficulties in pronouncing the e in Deus [e], which is only approximately rendered as [E] and is much closer to the e in pet.

A phonetical pronunciation could be rendered by "Deh-oose ex ma-kee-nah", with the "Deh" as is in "destiny", the "oose" as in "moose", "ma" as in "Mars", "kee" as in "key" and "nah" as in "father".

See also Latin spelling and pronunciation.

See also

• Reset button technique
• MacGuffin
• List of Latin phrases
• Character shield
• Suspension of disbelief

References

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cs:Deus ex machina de:Deus ex machina el:Από μηχανής θεός es:Deus ex machina fa:امداد غیبی (علمی-تخیلی) fr:Deus ex machina it:Deus ex machina he:דאוס אקס מכינה mk:Deus ex machina nl:Deus ex machina ja:デウス・エクス・マキナ pl:Deus ex machina pt:Deus ex machina ro:Deus ex machina (teatru) ru:Deus ex machina sk:Deus ex machina sr:Деус екс макина fi:Deus ex machina sv:Deus ex machina tr:Deux es machina

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