Poetic Justice in Literature: A Guide to the Literary Device

Poetic justice in literature describes a literary device in which evil characters are punished or brought to justice for their actions, and good characters are rewarded. Literature that utilizes poetic justice will often have happy endings with moral lessons for the reader to learn.

The history and definition of poetic justice come from Thomas Rymer, a drama critic who wrote the essay “The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider’d” in 1678. Rymer’s essay stated that authors should write stories that include good triumphing over evil, and feature examples of social justice to provide readers with examples of morality.

Poetic justice often turns stories into tools for the betterment of the reader and society. Literary works, such as fables and parables, for example, tell stories with specific lessons. Readers of these works are expected to learn from the characters who do bad things and are punished for their actions.

Modern literature deliberately does not always provide poetic justice for the reader. Instead, authors may have bad characters “win” over good characters. Some modern stories combine poetic justice with an ironic twist of fate—the result of the main character’s own actions.

There are many stories in literature that use poetic justice as a literary device:

1. 1. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles: A play that follows the King of Thebes, Oedipus, as he seeks out the murderer of Laius, the previous king. The story takes on an ironic manner as Oedipus eventually discovers that he is the murderer and gouges out his own eyes as justice for his actions.
2. 2. Hamlet by William Shakespeare: A play in which a young man named Hamlet seeks vengeance for the murder of his father, which is his idea of poetic justice. Ultimately, Hamlet himself becomes a murderer and is killed, receiving his own poetic justice.
3. 3. Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King: This novella follows a man who is convicted of a crime for which he asserts his innocence. The protagonist endures the hardships of prison life before finally escaping, redeeming himself by becoming free.

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