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deus ex machina

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deus ex machina

Theatrical device in which a far-fetched or unlikely event resolves an intractable difficulty. The phrase was originally used in classical Greek and Roman tragedy to indicate a god lowered by machinery from ‘heaven’ on to the stage to resolve the plot, which cannot be resolved by the characters within the play.

A good example of this device in English theatre is the ending of Shakespeare's Cymbeline.



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For one thing, their telecarb never seems to work when it is most needed--a great plot device that keeps it from becoming an annoying deus ex machina.
Meter Made by Swanson, Cheryl / Reviewer's Bookwatch
But there are other deus ex machinas in the world, even if you'll have to watch beyond tonight and endure more conspiracies and a little bit of inevitable narrative wheel-spinning over the next couple of episodes.
FOX BUSTS OUT NEW `BREAK' by Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
As a result, the free market appears as a deus ex machina, a system whose social depredations occur without any human intervention.
Mark Robert Rank, One Nation Underprivileged: Why American Poverty ... by Blau, Joel / Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
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