Meaning of deus ex machina | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Any resolution to a story that does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and that is so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, and presumably allows the author, director, or developer to end the story in the way that they desired.
2. A contrived solution to a problem, relying on an agent external to the situation.
   broadly
3. A deity in Greek and Roman drama who was brought in by stage machinery to intervene in a difficult situation (i.e., to resolve a crisis, or untangle issues surrounding it, a character logically expected to do so).
   historical, literary
4. A machine used to bring an actor playing a god onto the stage, either up through a trapdoor or (e.g. by crane) from above.
   historical

Equivalents

Examples

“Near-synonym: (vulgar, slang) ass-pull”

“The women who merge in the final pages leave me unsettled and depressed. Their future is grim. There is no deus ex machina to save them.”

“The repeated tactic of deus ex machina (without a deus) has a deplorable effect on both the plot and the dialogue.”

“Despite the government shutdown, at the end of the last season Knope is able to put on a children's concert in the abandoned lot she's been trying to turn into a park due to a quick deus ex machina.”

“Compared to that, the season-four finale “Server Error” felt comparatively tame, focusing mostly on Richard’s maniacal efforts to create a new kind of internet, which were helped along by a confusing deus ex machina.”

“The belief that a cure for cancer is being withheld by vested interests is a long-standing one. It is often used as a universal deus ex machina for those pushing an alternative alleged cure […]”

“Handler’s bad advice for generals […] is mostly notable as the most extreme expression of peculiar pleas by Trump opponents who seek some deus ex machina that will stop the president: generals simply disobeying the president, other civil servants refusing to follow through on orders, or even the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.”

“I was going to wait for Monsieur Hyppolyte and, like a craven, hand the whole thing over to him. Let the deus ex machina fly in out of the clouds...”

CEFR level