peripeteia
- noun
- /ˌpɛrəpɪˈteɪə/
- Literature
:
peripeteia
- There is reversal (peripeteia), and there is the ritual work of purge.
Examples
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In the play, the main character's peripeteia occurs when she loses her fortune unexpectedly.
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During the concert, the sudden peripeteia in the music surprised everyone in the audience.
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This peripeteia is textually substantiated as well as consistent with the unity of the work.
Academic text (1993) -
I tried to find out about his and Palaz's ideology. Speaking to me about his own personal peripeteia, he was saying that he had gone from Lenin to gardening.
Fiction book (1993) -
Another representation could have been chosen, or Van Dyck could have focused on "le coup de theatre," i.e., the dramatic peripeteia in Belisarius's life from fortune to misfortune.
Academic text (1996) -
Frisch, who is intent on participating in a modern dramaturgy of frustration, recognizes the heavy weight of the classical heritage: the dramaturgy of fate and peripeteia.
Academic text (1993) -
The novel's climax features a dramatic peripeteia that changes the fate of the protagonist.
Synonyms
343
3.4
A sudden change in a situation or story
35
4.1
A sudden change in a situation that makes plans or results different
22
4.3
An unexpected event that causes a setback or loss
4
4.2
A sudden change to the opposite direction or a setback that stops progress
2
4.2
A surprising event in a story that changes the expected outcome
A sudden unexpected event in a story that changes a character's luck
A sudden turn in a story that changes the main character's situation
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Etymology
Peripeteia comes from Greek parts peri- 'around' (as in perimeter) and piptein 'to fall', giving the picture of things suddenly 'turning' or 'falling around'. That's why a peripeteia in a story is a sudden reversal of fortune that changes everything.