It's the sort of element a writer or playwright usually adds in the story whenever it looks like one or more of his characters are hopelessly, irremediably screwed, and the ending is supposed to be a happy one. Its primary purposes are saving the day and filling the gaps in the story. Accounts for lack of creativity when it comes to situations.
The term means "god in the machine" and originated in Greek theaters, where playwrights frequently used a godlike character, carried by some sort of mechanisms, for the purposes mentioned above.
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What is your understanding of the term "deus ex machina"?
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- (Latin for "god from the machine"; plural: dei ex machina) is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new character, ability, or object.
Source(s):
- Consider someone writing a novel about the war in Afghanistan. Wishing to have a happy ending, he invents a widespread virus which only attacks and disables long-bearded individuals. The virus would be a god-sent stratagem, totally unexpected, from outside the war zone, to save the day
- What Danny said. A good example is the officer in the end of Lord Of the Flies.
- my understanding is that it means nothing at all to me