What is Poetic Justice?

Poetic justice is a situation in which virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished, often in an ironic twist of fate. Many movies use this concept. For example, in a movie where the bad guy gets what he deserves in an ironic way or the good guy is rewarded in an ironic way this is called poetic justice.

A true story that illustrates this is the incident where a gentleman is driving across a bridge and just in the nick of time sees that the center span is missing. He screeches to a stop and jumps out of his car to warn a truck that is quickly approaching. He waves them down but they go right past him throwing bottles and hurling curses at him. They of course plunge to their deaths. That is poetic justice.

Poetic justice is normally played out in two parts. It requires that vice be punished and virtue rewarded. Also, logic must triumph. It is not a representation of what happened but of what should have happened. That is why people love the concept and love movies and literature that display it.

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