Deus ex machina is Latin for "god from the machine" and is a calque from the Greek "από μηχανής θεός", (pronounced "apo mekhanes theos"). It originated with Greek and Roman theater, when a mechane would lower a god or gods onstage to resolve a hopeless situation. Thus, "god comes from the machine". The phrase deus ex machina has been extended to refer to any resolution to a story which does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and is so unlikely it challenges suspension of disbelief, and presumably allows the author to end it in the way he or she wanted.
The pronunciation of the phrase is a problem in English. Traditional ways of saying Latin would have it something like DAY-us ex MAK-in-a, while more modern ways of pronouncing Latin would give perhaps DAY-oos ex MAH-kin-ah, but many people naturally bring in the modern English m'SHEEN, resulting in a mixed pronunciation.
The Greek tragedian Euripides was notorious for using this plot device.
Examples and references of Deus ex machina in fiction works
Literature and comics
- The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton is also often said to be ended using this, although it is possible to be a deliberate usage. An alien artifact known as "the Sleeping God" is utilized to solve a problem which over 3000 pages have been working through, in less than 5 minutes (or an hour, in the "Tinkerbell/Ketton" events).
- Many comic book characters can be seen as walking "dei ex machinis". Wolverine is viewed by many fans of the X-Men comics as such. His mutant powers include an incredibly fast healing factor (making him nearly invincible), enhanced senses, and a skeleton of adamantium, a fictional metal which is indestructible. Lifeguard, also from the X-Men, is widely considered by her detractors to be the ultimate deus ex. Her mutant ability is to manifest any necessary ability to save lives, which makes her a quick fix for the writers if any characters are stuck in a tight spot.
- In Isaac Asimov's I, Robot it is used as a part of the description of the relationship between humans and robots.
- The character of Puck ends William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with a decidedly Deus Ex Machina flair.
- One example is the end of the novel Forever Free by Joe Haldeman. After discovering the entire population of earth has disappeared, the main character meets god who explains that the universe as man knows it has been one big experiment, which has now been aborted. After a short conversation, god agrees to restore everyone and leave the experiment to "simmer" for another few thousand years.
Cinema and television
- A few recent examples (where it isn't literally a god-like being, but is a similar sudden, arbitrary resolution of plot) are in the films The Joyless Street and Pandora's Box by G.W. Pabst. In Pandora's Box, the movie is ended when, for no apparent reason, the main character is murdered by Jack the Ripper. Similarly, in Medium Cool, the final scene ends with the lead characters being killed in a car accident.
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail is another example, although the ending — in which the movie comes to a sudden halt when the entire cast is arrested — is intentionally preposterous in this case.
- In The Matrix Revolutions, the third movie of the Matrix series, the Deus Ex Machina is the ultimate power in the machine world. With presumedly intentional irony, that godlike machine does provide a way out of a seemingly hopeless situation.
- In the end of the movie Donnie Darko, Donnie actually says the phrase, although it is very difficult to understand. Most people agree on that fact that the "Deus ex machina" in this story refers to the car that appears in that same scene, right after Donnie whispers the phrase. This is obviously deliberate usage and a prime example of the technique.
- In Adaptation, the main character (who is a screenwriter writing the screenplay of The Orchid Thief) takes a screenwriting class where he is told not to end his movie with a Deus ex machina. Because of this, he deliberately uses a Deus ex machina (in this case, an alligator) to kill the opposing character.
- In The Wizard of Oz, just before Dorothy and her companions reach the Emerald City, the Wicked Witch of the West produces a giant field of poppies that put Dorothy, Toto and the Cowardly Lion to sleep. The Scarecrow and the Tinman cry for help, and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, produces a snow shower that wakes everyone up.
- At the end of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, the treasure chest containing the main character's gambling winnings has the phrase "Deus ex Machina" written on it.
- In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Ethics, after Worf apparently dies, he suddenly recovers thanks to an improbable quirk of Klingon anatomy.
Music
Video games
- The computer game Half-Life 2 begins and ends with deus-ex-machina appearances of the G-Man character. Without spoiling the plot, at one point in the game, the G-Man is able to circumvent an impossible to escape situation for the main character, Gordon Freeman.
de:Deus ex machina
ja:デウス・エクス・マキナ
nl:Deus ex machina
fi:Deus ex machina
|
