Harry Potter
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Anagnorisis, or discovery, is the protagonist's sudden recognition of their own or another character's true identity or nature. Through this technique, previously unforeseen character information is revealed. A notable example of anagnorisis occurs in Oedipus Rex: Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother in ignorance, learning the truth only toward the climax of the play. This technique is used on multiple occasions in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, with an antagonist disguised as an ally to the protagonists until the very end (or vice-versa). The earliest use of this device as a twist ending in a murder mystery was in "The Three Apples", a medieval Arabian Nights tale, where the protagonist Ja'far ibn Yahya by chance discovers a key item towards the end of the story that reveals the culprit behind the murder to be his own slave all along.
