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The rise and rise of poetic justice
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
My understanding of poetic justice is that it is just another way of saying "what comes around goes around", or what people commonly refer to as karma. However is it just me or is it getting used more and more in television, newspapers and in particular by sporting commentators.
Does anyone know what or why we say "That's poetic justice" as opposed to "That's justice", or "yes he deserved that"?
Has anyone else noticed the rise of poetic justice?
1 comments :
The wikipedia is interesting on this.
"English drama critic Thomas Rymer coined the phrase in The Tragedies of the Last Age Considere'd (1678) to describe how a work should inspire proper moral behaviour in its audience by illustrating the triumph of good over evil."
It cites the story of Esther as containing some good examples, culminating in Haman being executed on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai.
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