Contemporary Literature

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Poetic Justice

By Mark Flanagan, About.com

Definition: Poetic justice is a literary outcome in which bad characters are punished and good characters are rewarded. Think: "What comes around goes around." In its purest form, poetic justice is when one character plots to undermine another and then ends up caught in his own trap.

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Mark Flanagan
Guide since 2003

Mark Flanagan
Contemporary Literature Guide

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