Okuzeka
Literature vocabulary · Plot and Structure

Subplot

Meaning in literature, with examples

/ˈsʌbplɒt/nounCommon term

In literature, subplot means: A secondary story that runs alongside the main plot, often involving minor characters, and that supports or contrasts with the main story.

In Turkish: yan olay örgüsü, yan hikaye, ara olay

How it is used

Common in reviews of long novels, plays and series. A subplot can mirror, echo or comment on the main plot; critics may call it distracting or underdeveloped. In King Lear, the Gloucester subplot mirrors Lear's story of a father deceived by his children.

Example sentences

  1. The romantic subplot gives the reader a break from the darker main story.

  2. Some reviewers felt the political subplot was never fully developed.

Common collocations

  • romantic subplot
  • a minor subplot
  • the subplot mirrors
  • main plot and subplot
  • plotThe series of connected events in a story and the way the writer arranges them, especially how one event causes another.
  • characterA person, or sometimes an animal or creature, who takes part in the events of a story, play or poem.
  • conflictThe struggle between opposing forces in a story, such as two characters, a character and society, or a character and their own desires, which drives the plot.
  • foilA character whose qualities contrast with those of another character, usually the protagonist, so that the other character's traits stand out more clearly.

More terms: Plot and Structure

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