Monday, May 3, 2010

Etymology: denouement

Denoouement: (noun) the point in a film, play, or narrative when all the different pieces of the plot come together and conflict is resolved or the mystery explained.

This term has been appropriated from the french noun dénouement, meaning "the unknotting." This noun is derived from the verb dénouer, meaning "to unknot." Interestingly, the notion of "everything coming together" and a plot "unraveling" can at once be opposite phenomenon but also indicate the same narrative moment.

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