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Literature vocabulary · Plot and Structure

Peripeteia

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, peripeteia means: A sudden reversal in a story, especially when a character's situation changes sharply from success to failure or the opposite.

In Turkish: baht dönüşü

How it is used

Common in discussions of tragedy, Aristotle, and plot structure. Often refers to the turning point where events reverse direction in a significant way.

Example sentences

  1. During the seminar, the lecturer identified the king's public confession as the peripeteia that turns authority into vulnerability.

    The word marks the exact moment when the plot reverses and the king's position changes dramatically.

  2. Her close reading shows that the lost letter triggers the peripeteia, because one small mistake overturns the entire marriage plot.

    Here, peripeteia names the reversal caused by the letter, not simply any tense or dramatic scene.

Common collocations

  • tragic peripeteia
  • moment of peripeteia
  • Aristotelian peripeteia
  • plotThe series of connected events in a story and the way the writer arranges them, especially how one event causes another.
  • climaxThe most intense and important moment of a story, when the main conflict reaches its turning point and the outcome is decided.

More terms: Plot and Structure

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