Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The final resolution or clarification of a dramatic or narrative plot.
- noun The events following the climax of a drama or novel in which such a resolution or clarification takes place.
- noun The outcome of a sequence of events; the end result.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Alternative spelling of
dénouement .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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To allege that one romantic comedy stole from another because they both end with weddings would fail on the grounds that such a denouement is a scène à faire for romantic comedies.
Faire Matthew Guerrieri 2007
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To allege that one romantic comedy stole from another because they both end with weddings would fail on the grounds that such a denouement is a scène à faire for romantic comedies.
Archive 2007-02-01 Matthew Guerrieri 2007
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I concocted a whole list of factual statements about a supposed crime, rather in the way a detective might in the closing stages of a criminal investigation just before the denouement is reached, and decided to let the students solve the mystery.
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For instance, when we read a detective novel, we have a different experience of the story before and after the denouement is reached.
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I felt the final third could have gone on longer, it never really felt like the protagonist hit their lowest point before the action at the end and the denouement is hurried and confusing.
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The revelation in the mystery's denouement is so shocking and smart that the entire tale is turned upside down.
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Like much of the plot, this denouement is not clear in the film, from which Mr. Kubrick cut most of the expository material.
Arthur C. Clarke, Premier Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 90 « Isegoria 2008
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Some may be surprised at this choice, but I find that the novel captured youthful angst as well as any book I've read, and its explosive denouement is all the more impressive in these post-Columbine days.
MIND MELD: Speculative Fiction Books Worth Reading Twice 2008
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Its "longish denouement" is "corny and contrived, but we seize on it with relief - as we seize on the Mahleresque romanticism of Gabriel Yared's score."
GreenCine Daily: The Lives of Others and The Decomposition of the Soul. 2007
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That sad denouement is another symbol, standing for our defeat in the larger war of ideas.
September 2006 2006
shevek commented on the word denouement
I think it is unfortunate that dénouement has only six citations, while the word without the accent has 65.
June 6, 2008