poetical justice

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English

Etymology

From poetical +‎ justice,[1] coined by the English literary critic Thomas Rymer (c. 1643 – 1713) in the work The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider’d and Examin’d (1678):[2] see the quotation.

Pronunciation

Noun

poetical justice (uncountable)

  1. (narratology) The idea that in a literary work such as a poem, virtue should be rewarded and vice punished.
    Synonym: poetic justice
    • 1678, Thomas Rymer, “The Tragedy of Rollo Duke of Normandy”, in The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider’d and Examin‘d , London: Richard Tonson , →OCLC, page 26:
      For though historical Juſtice might reſt there; yet poetical Juſtice could not be ſo content. It vvould require that the ſatisfaction be compleat and full, e're the Malefactor goes off the Stage, and nothing left to God Almighty, and another VVorld.
  2. (by extension, generally) Synonym of poetic justice (“the fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner”)

Translations

References

  1. ^ “poetical justice, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2023.
  2. ^ “poetical justice, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

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