A narrative work beginningin medias res(Classical Latin:[ɪnˈmɛdɪ.aːsˈreːs],lit."into the middle of things" ) opens in the chronological middle of the plot, rather than at the beginning (cf.ab ovo,ab initio).[1]Often,expositionis initially bypassed, instead filled in gradually through dialogue,flashbacks,or description of past events. For example,Hamletbegins after the death of Hamlet's father which is later discovered to have been a murder. Characters make reference to King Hamlet's death without the plot's first establishment of this fact. Since the play is about Hamlet and the revenge more so than the motivation,Shakespeareusesin medias resto bypass superfluous exposition.
Works that employin medias resoften later use flashback andnonlinear narrativefor exposition to fill in thebackstory.InHomer'sOdyssey,the reader first learns aboutOdysseus'sjourney when he is held captive on Calypso's island. The reader then finds out, in Books IX through XII, that the greater part of Odysseus's journey precedes that moment in the narrative. In Homer'sIliadthere are fewer flashbacks, although it opens in the thick of theTrojan War.
First use of the phrase
editThe Roman lyric poet and satiristHorace(65–8 BC) first used the termsab ōvō( "from the egg" ) andin mediās rēs( "into the middle of things" ) in hisArs Poetica( "Poetic Arts", c. 13 BC), wherein lines 147–149 describe the idealepic poet:[2]
Nor does he begin theTrojan Warfrom the egg, but always he hurries to the action, and snatches the listenerinto the middle of things....
The word "egg" reference is to themythologicalorigin of theTrojan Warin the birth ofHelenandClytemnestrafrom the double egg laid byLedafollowing her seduction byZeusin the guise of aswan.Compare theIliad,which begins nine years after the start of the Trojan War, rather than at its beginning.
Literary history
editWith likely origins inoral tradition,the narrative technique of beginning a storyin medias resis a stylistic convention ofepic poetry,the exemplars in Western literature being theIliadand theOdyssey(both 7th century BC), byHomer.[3]Likewise, theMahābhārata(c. 8th century BC – c. 4th century AD) opensin medias res.
Theclassical-erapoetVirgil(Publius Vergilius Maro, 70–19 BC) continued this literary narrative technique in theAeneid,which is part of the Roman literary tradition of imitatingHomer.[3]Later works startingin medias resinclude the story "The Three Apples"from theOne Thousand and One Nights(c. 9th century),[4]the ItalianDivine Comedy(1320) byDante Alighieri,[5][6]the GermanNibelungenlied(12th century),[citation needed]the SpanishCantar de Mio Cid(c. 14th century),[7]the PortugueseThe Lusiads(1572) byLuís de Camões,[8]Jerusalem Delivered(1581) byTorquato Tasso,[citation needed]Paradise Lost(1667) byJohn Milton,[9]and generally inModernist literature.
Modern novelists usingin medias reswith flashbacks includeWilliam FaulknerandToni Morrison.
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"is writtenin medias res.[10]
Cinematic history
editIt is typical forfilm noirto beginin medias res;for example, a private detective will enter the plot already in progress.[11]Crossfire(1947) opens with the murder of Joseph Samuels. As the police investigate the crime, the story behind the murder is told via flashbacks.[12]Dead Reckoning(1947) opens withHumphrey Bogartas Rip Murdock on the run and attempting to hide in a Catholic church. Inside, the backstory is told in flashback as Murdock explains his situation to a priest.[12]
The technique has been used across genres, including dramas such asThrough a Glass Darkly(1961),[13]8½(1963),[13]Raging Bull(1980), andCity of God(2002);[14]crime thrillers such asNo Way Out(1987),Grievous Bodily Harm(1988),[15]The Usual Suspects(1995),[16]andKill Bill Volume 2(2004);[17]horror films such asFirestarter(1984);[18]action films such as many in theJames Bondfranchise;[16][19]and comedies such asDr. Strangelove(1964).[13]Some have argued thatStar Warstakes advantage of this technique because its first-released film,A New Hope,is the fourth episode of a nine-part epic.[20]
Superhero filmswith a satirical edge such asDeadpool(2016) andBirds of Prey(2020) have utilizedin medias resto frame their stories.[21]
Animated filmssuch asGrave of the Fireflies(1988),The Emperor's New Groove(2000),Hoodwinked!(2005),Happily N'Ever After(2006),Megamind(2010), andThe Mitchells vs. the Machines(2021) have opening scenesin medias res,with a brief but significant scene that foreshadows the events that occurred earlier. This scene is then seen again afterwards (although in a different way than how it was shown at the beginning).
Manywar films,such asThe Thin Red Line(1998), also beginin medias res,with the protagonists already actively in combat and no prior domestic scenes leading up to the film's events.[22]
See also
editReferences
edit
- ^"In medias res".Encyclopædia Britannica.RetrievedJuly 31,2013.
- ^Horace.Ars poetica(in Latin).
necgeminobellum Troianum orditurab ovo;/ semper ad eventum festinat etin medias res/ [...] auditorem rapit
- ^abMurray, Christopher John (2004).Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850.Taylor & Francis.p. 319.ISBN1-57958-422-5
- ^Pinault, David (1992).Story-Telling Techniques in the Arabian Nights.Brill Publishers.pp. 86–94.ISBN90-04-09530-6.
- ^Forman, Carol (1984).Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy: The Inferno.Barron's Educational Series. p. 24.ISBN0-7641-9107-1
- ^P. Raffa, Guy (15 May 2009).The Complete Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the Divine Comedy.University Of Chicago Press. p. 12.ISBN978-0226702704.
- ^Leaños, Jaime (2018). "El Cid redentor".Rocky Mountain Review.72(2): 280-299.doi:10.1353/rmr.2018.0023.S2CID166420522.
- ^Dixon, Paul B. (1985)."History as Prophecy in Camões's" Os Lusíadas "".Luso-Brazilian Review.22(2): 145–150.JSTOR3513451.
- ^Kimaid, Michael (2015).Modernity, Metatheory, and the Temporal-Spatial Divide: From Mythos to Techne.Taylor & Francis. p. 132.ISBN9781317565437.
- ^Attolino, Paolo (2018). "Chapter Ten: The Tell-Tale Heart… of Mine: Poe Told by Stewart Copeland". In Amendola, Alfonso; Barone, Linda (eds.).Edgar Allan Poe across disciplines, genres and languages.Newcastle upon Tyne, UK:Cambridge Scholars Publishing.ISBN9781527506985.
- ^Knight, Deborah (2007). Conard, Mark T.; Porfirio, Robert (eds.).The Philosophy of Film Noir.University Press of Kentucky. p. 208.ISBN978-0-8131-9181-2.
- ^ab Mayer, Geoff; McDonnell, Brian (2007).Encyclopedia of Film Noir.ABC-CLIO. pp. 146, 161.ISBN978-0-313-33306-4.
- ^abcMiller, William Charles (1980).Screenwriting for Narrative Film and Television.Hastingshouse/Daytrips. p. 66.ISBN978-0-8038-6773-4.
- ^"What is the term, In Medias Res?".Archived fromthe originalon 2017-11-07.Retrieved2011-11-01.
- ^McFarlane, Brian; Mayer, Geoff (1992).New Australian Cinema.Cambridge University Press. p.100.ISBN978-0-521-38768-2.
- ^abMurfin, Ross C.; Ray, Supryia M. (2009).The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms.Bedford/St. Martins. p. 245.ISBN978-0-230-22330-1.
- ^Chan, Kenneth (2009).Remade in Hollywood.Hong Kong University Press. p. 147.ISBN978-962-209-056-9.
- ^Muir, John Kenneth (2007).Horror Films of the 1980s.McFarland. pp. 135, 389.ISBN978-0-7864-2821-2.
- ^Donnelly, Kevin J. (2001).Film Music.Edinburgh University Press. p. 36.ISBN978-0-7486-1288-8.
- ^Danesi, Marcel (2008)."Chapter 6, Cinema and Video".Popular Culture: Introductory Perspectives.United States: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 177.ISBN978-0-7425-5547-1.RetrievedJuly 25,2020– viaGoogle Books.
- ^"Film Review: Deadpool".Red Fence. 30 May 2016.
- ^Glassmeyer, Danielle (2009). "Ridley Scott's Epics: Gender of Violence". In Detora, Lisa M. (ed.).wHeroes of Film, Comics and American Culture.McFarland. pp. 297–8.ISBN978-0-7864-3827-3.