Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a
literary device with which ultimately
virtue
A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be morality, moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is Value (ethics), valued as an Telos, end purpos ...
is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature,
it is often accompanied by an
ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, hence the name "poetic irony".
Etymology
English drama critic
Thomas Rymer coined the phrase in ''The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider'd'' (1678) to describe how a work should inspire proper moral behaviour in its audience by illustrating the triumph of good over evil. The demand for poetic justice is consistent in Classical authorities and shows up in
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...
,
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
, and
Quintillian, so Rymer's phrasing is a reflection of a commonplace.
Philip Sidney, in ''
The Defence of Poesy'' (1595), argued that poetic justice was, in fact, the reason that fiction should be allowed in a civilized nation.
History
Notably, poetic justice does not merely require that vice be punished and virtue rewarded, but also that logic triumph. If, for example, a character is dominated by greed for most of a romance or drama, they cannot become generous. The action of a play, poem, or fiction must obey the rules of logic as well as morality. During the late 17th century, critics pursuing a
neo-classical standard criticized
William 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 nation ...
in favor of
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...
precisely on the grounds that Shakespeare's characters change during the course of the play.
[(See Shakespeare's reputation for more on the Shakespeare/Jonson dichotomy.)] When
Restoration comedy, in particular, flouted poetic justice by rewarding libertines and punishing dull-witted moralists, there was a backlash in favor of drama, in particular, of more strict moral correspondence.
See also
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Contrapasso
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Karma
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Unintended consequences
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Irony
Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Poetic Justice
17th-century neologisms
Irony
Justice
Narratology