
The rule of three is a
writing
Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
principle which suggests that a trio of entities such as events or characters is more humorous, satisfying, or effective than other numbers. The audience of this form of text is also thereby more likely to remember the information conveyed because having
three entities combines both brevity and rhythm with having the smallest amount of information to create a pattern.
Slogans, film titles, and a variety of other things have been structured in threes, a tradition that grew out of
oral storytelling and continues in
narrative
A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
. Examples include the
Three Little Pigs,
Three Billy Goats Gruff,
Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and the
Three Musketeers. Similarly, adjectives are often grouped in threes to emphasize an idea.
Meaning
The rule of three can refer to a collection of three words, phrases, sentences, lines, paragraphs/stanzas, chapters/sections of writing and even
whole books.
The three elements together are known as a triad.
The technique is used not just in prose, but also in
poetry
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
, oral storytelling, films, and
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...
.
A
tricolon is a more specific use of the rule of three where three words or phrases are equal in length and grammatical form.
A
hendiatris is a figure of speech where three successive words are used to express a single central idea.
As a slogan or motto, this is known as a tripartite motto.
Slogans and catchphrases
Many advertising campaigns and public information slogans use the technique to create a catchy, memorable way of displaying information. In marketing theory, American advertising and sales pioneer
E. St. Elmo Lewis laid out his three chief copywriting principles, which he felt were crucial for effective advertising:
The mission of an advertisement is to attract a reader so that he will look at the advertisement and start to read it; then to interest him, so that he will continue to read it; then to convince him, so that when he has read it, he will believe it. If an advertisement contains these three qualities of success, it is a successful advertisement.
Some examples include:
*
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness – Rights outlined in the ''U.S. Declaration of Independence''
*
Liberté, égalité, fraternité – The slogan of the
French Republic
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
predating 1790
* Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit – Opening line of
German National Anthem
* A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play –
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
advertising slogan since 1959
* Stop, Look and Listen – A public road and level crossing safety slogan
*
Stop, Drop and Roll – A fire safety slogan listing the steps to take if one's clothing has caught fire
* Faster, Higher, Stronger – The
Olympic motto; a translation of the Latin ''Citius, Altius, Fortius''
* ''
Veni, vidi, vici'' – A triad translated from Latin as "I came, I saw, I conquered", popularly attributed to
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
of Rome.
*
Slip-Slop-Slap
''Slip-Slop-Slap'' (originally ''Slip! Slop! Drop!'') is a mnemonic slogan for reducing Health effects of sunlight exposure, unhealthy sun exposure by ''slipping'' on a shirt or rash guard, ''slopping'' on sunscreen, and ''slapping'' on a sun h ...
– Australian sun protection (anti-skin-cancer) campaign.
* "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". –
Three wise monkeys
*
Turn on, tune in, drop out – 1960s counterculture-era phrase popularized by
Timothy Leary.
*
Snap, Crackle and Pop –
Cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...
mascots of
Rice Krispies.
* Government of the people, by the people, for the people – from
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Comedy
In comedy, the rule of three is also called a ''comic triple''
and is one of the many
comedic devices regularly used by
humorist
A humorist is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking. A raconteur is one who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.
Henri Bergson writes that a humorist's work grows from viewing the morals of society ...
s,
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...
s, and
comedian
A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...
s. The third element of the triple is often used to create an effect of surprise with the audience,
and is frequently the
punch line of the joke itself. For instance, jokes might feature three stereotyped individuals—such as
an Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman; or a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead—where the surprise or punch line of the joke comes from the third character.
The comedic rule of three is often paired with quick timing, ensuring that viewers have less time to catch on to the pattern before the punch line hits. As a whole, the comedic rule of threes relies on setting up a pattern of two items and then subverting viewer expectations by breaking that pattern with the third item. One example comes from ''
The Dick Van Dyke Show'' – "Can I get you anything? Cup of coffee? Doughnut? Toupee?"
Just like most comedic writing, the rule of threes in comedy relies on building tension to a comedic release. In the case of the rule of threes, tension is built with the first two items in the pattern and then released with the final item, which should be the funniest of the three. Most triples are short in length, often only two or three sentences, but the rule can also be implemented effectively at longer length as long as base formula is still followed.
The effectiveness of a pattern of three items has also been noted in the visual arts. Cartoonist
Art Spiegelman
Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman ( ; born February 15, 1948), professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazin ...
described the rule of three as being key to the work of ''
Nancy'' creator
Ernie Bushmiller, giving the example that "a drawing of three rocks in a background scene was Ernie's way of showing us there were some rocks in the background. It was always three. Why? Because two rocks wouldn't be 'some rocks.' Two rocks would be a pair of rocks. And four rocks were unacceptable because four rocks would indicate 'some rocks' but it would be one rock more than was necessary to convey the idea of 'some rocks.'"
Storytelling and folklore
In
storytelling
Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...
, authors often create triplets or structures in three parts. In the rule's simplest form, this is merely ''beginning, middle, and end'', as expressed in
Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
's
Poetics.
Vladimir Propp, in his ''Morphology of the Folk Tale'', concluded that any of the elements in a folktale could be negated twice so that it would repeat thrice. This is common not only in the Russian tales he studied but throughout
folk tales and
fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...
s: most commonly, perhaps, in that the
youngest son is usually the third, although fairy tales often display the rule of three in the most blatant form. A small sample of the latter includes:
*
Rumpelstiltskin
"Rumpelstiltskin" ( ; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of ''Children's and Household Tales''. The story is about an imp who spins straw into gold in exchange for a woman's firstborn child.
Plot
I ...
spins thrice for the heroine and lets her guess his name thrice over a period of three days.
* In ''
East of the Sun and West of the Moon'', the heroine receives three gifts while searching for her lost husband; when she finds where he is held prisoner, she must use them to thrice bribe her way to the hero (the first two times she was unable to tell her story because he lay in a drugged sleep).
* In ''
Brother and Sister'', Brother is transformed into a deer when he drinks from the third stream that their wicked stepmother enchanted, and when Sister is killed by the same stepmother, she visits her child's room thrice, being caught and restored the third time.
* In ''
The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird'', a woman says she will bear the king three marvelous children; when they reappear, their envious aunts attempt to kill them by sending them on three quests, after the three marvelous things of the title.
* In ''
The Silent Princess'', a prince breaks a peasant woman's pitcher thrice and is cursed; when he finds the title princess, he must persuade her to speak thrice.
* In ''
The Love for Three Oranges'', the hero picks three magical oranges, and only with the third is he able to keep the woman who springs out of it.
Literature
* In
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
's ''
A Christmas Carol'',
Marley's Ghost tells
Ebenezer Scrooge he will receive visits from three spirits:
The Ghost of Christmas Past,
The Ghost of Christmas Present, and finally
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, to which Scrooge says, "Spirit, I fear you most of all."
* In the musical ''
Fiddler on the Roof'',
Tevye must give his three eldest daughters away, one after another. Each match progressively challenges his faith, as represented by a monologue in which he argues with himself using the phrase "on the other hand" to play the
devil's advocate and convince himself to side with his daughters. This is subverted with the youngest daughter who wishes to marry a
Gentile, for which Tevye concludes that "No, there is no other hand."
* In
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
'',
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...
starts his speech by using the rule of three:
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears, to which the commoners start to listen.
* In
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
Macbeth
''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
'', there are
three witches
The Three Witches, also known as the Weird Sisters, Weyward Sisters or Wayward Sisters, are characters in William Shakespeare's play ''Macbeth'' (c. 1603–1607). The witches eventually lead Macbeth (Macbeth), Macbeth to his demise, and they ...
, called "weird sisters".
Rhetoric and public speaking
The use of a series of three elements is also a well-known feature of public oratory.
Max Atkinson, in his book on oratory entitled ''Our Masters' Voices'', gives examples of how public speakers use three-part phrases to generate what he calls 'claptraps', evoking audience applause.
Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights activist and preacher, was known for his uses of tripling and the rule of three throughout his many influential speeches. For example, the speech "Non-Violence and Racial Justice" contained a binary opposition made up of the rule of three: "insult, injustice and exploitation", followed a few lines later by "justice, good will, and brotherhood". Conversely, the segregationist Alabama governor
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...
inveighed "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" during
his 1963 inaugural address.
The appeal of the three-fold pattern is also illustrated by the transformation of
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
's reference to "
blood, toil, tears and sweat" (echoing
Giuseppe Garibaldi and
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
) in its popular recollection to "blood, sweat and tears".
See also
*
Hendiatris (or ''tripartite motto'')
*
Rule of thirds; a similar concept applied to visual art
*
Tricolon
*
The Three Classic Laws of thought
*
Triads
*
Triple deity
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Narratology
Recurrent elements in fairy tales