anagnorisis Reference library
Chris Baldick
The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare (2 ed.)
... (Greek, ‘recognition’), the turning point in a drama at which the protagonist discovers the true state of affairs to which he or she had been blind—as with Othello’s recognition that Desdemona had not betrayed him. Chris...
anagnorisis Reference library
Ronald W. Vince
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance
... In Aristotle 's Poetics , anagnorisis (recognition) refers to a change in the protagonist from ignorance to knowledge, leading to happiness ( comedy ) or misery ( tragedy ). In tragedy, anagnorisis is often the mechanism whereby peripeteia (reversal) is brought about. Taken together, recognition and reversal are central to a complex plot , revealing the hamartia (error) underlying the protagonist's tragic act, and precipitating his suffering. In Aristotle's discussion of the techniques of recognition—made much of in early modern ...
anagnorisis Reference library
The Companion to Theatre and Performance
... In *Aristotle 's Poetics , anagnorisis (recognition) refers to a change in the *protagonist from ignorance to knowledge, leading to happiness ( *comedy ) or misery ( *tragedy ). In tragedy, anagnorisis is often the mechanism whereby * peripeteia (reversal) is brought about. Taken together, recognition and reversal are central to a complex plot, revealing the * hamartia (error) underlying the protagonist's tragic act, and precipitating his suffering. In Aristotle's discussion of the techniques of recognition—made much of in *early modern ...
anagnorisis Quick reference
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (4 ed.)
... [ an-ag- nor -ĭs-is ] ( plural -ises ) The Greek word for ‘recognition’ or ‘discovery’, used by Aristotle in his Poetics to denote the turning point in a drama at which a character (usually the protagonist ) recognizes the true state of affairs, having previously been in error or ignorance. The classic instance is Oedipus’ recognition, in Oedipus Tyrannus , that he himself has killed his own father Laius , married his mother Jocasta , and brought the plague upon Thebes. The anagnorisis is usually combined with the play’s peripeteia or...
anagnorisis noun Reference library
The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Foreign Terms in English
... noun plural anagnorises L18 Greek ( anagnōrisis ). Recognition; the denouement in a drama...
anagnorisis
discovery
Aristotelian
peripeteia
scène à faire
climax
crisis
origins of theatre
deus ex machina
crisis Quick reference
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (4 ed.)
...A decisive point in the plot of a play or story, upon which the outcome of the remaining action depends, and which ultimately precipitates the catastrophe or dénouement . See also anagnorisis , climax , peripeteia...
discovery Quick reference
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (4 ed.)
...A term sometimes used as an English equivalent for anagnorisis , that is, a point in a play or story at which a character recognizes the true state of affairs. See also dénouement...
tragedy Quick reference
World Encyclopedia
...in which a noble hero (the protagonist) meets a fate inherent in the drama's action. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is an early example, which was unmatched until the tragedies of Christopher Marlowe . Aristotle 's Poetics systematized tragedy and introduced such ideas as anagnorisis (recognition) and catharsis (purging of pity). See also Aeschylus ; Euripides ; Greek Drama ; Shakespeare,...
peripeteia Quick reference
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (4 ed.)
... [ pe-ri-pĕ- tee -ă ] ( peripety [ pe- rip -ĕti ]) A sudden reversal of a character’s circumstances and fortunes, usually involving the downfall of the protagonist in a tragedy , and often coinciding with the ‘recognition’ or anagnorisis . In a comedy , however, the peripeteia abruptly restores the prosperity of the main character(s). See also coup de théâtre...
scène à faire Quick reference
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (4 ed.)
...for the kind of scene within a drama towards which the preceding action seems inevitably to tend, such as the crucial encounter between hero and villain. It usually provides an emotional climax . The term is sometimes rendered in English as ‘obligatory scene’. See also anagnorisis , catastrophe , crisis , dénouement , well-made play...
deus ex machina Reference library
Ronald W. Vince
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance
...the play, noting that it was otherwise inartistic. Its use in tragedy as an instrument of superior will, or as an ironic commentary on that will (as in Euripides ' Orestes ), is nevertheless appropriate; and its use in comedy —usually a sign effecting the recognition ( anagnorisis )—properly underscores the role of chance in the comic world. Ronald W....
