Graduate Program
English
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Semester of Degree Completion
2011
Thesis Director
Letitia Moffitt
Thesis Committee Member
Lania Knight
Thesis Committee Member
Roxane Gay
Abstract
Literary Studies with Creative Writing Emphasis
Traditionally, the term deux ex machina refers to the intrusion of a God-like being into the events of a play: in order to bring about a desired conclusion, the playwright introduces a supernatural deity who restores order. Witness the statue of Hermione at the end of A Winter's Tale.
More modem texts call for a broader interpretation. The symbolic rain of frogs at the end of Paul Thomas Anderson's film Magnolia, or the disappearance of Charles Lindbergh in Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, qualify as dei ex machina. These are events created not by a supernatural being, but by the author himself Their intent is usually to convey some sort of symbolism; the toxic black cloud in Don DeLillo's White Noise, for example, represents the intrusion of technology-and its side effects-into modem society.
Recommended Citation
Davis, Daniel, "Chelmsford" (2011). Masters Theses. 289.
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/289
