marycatelli: (East of the Sun)
marycatelli ([personal profile] marycatelli) wrote2021-02-08 11:37 pm

flip-flopping

Our hero is returning in triumph from his quest and going from success to success --

No.

He's going success to nerve-wracking attempt to success. It's too long a sequence to carry about without peripeteia. Even haiku and sonnets often have reversals going because it's so powerful a tool.

Denouement is all success but then it's a single scene.
madfilkentist: My cat Florestan (gray shorthair) (Default)

[personal profile] madfilkentist 2021-02-09 02:31 pm (UTC)(link)
A story where the hero always succeeds is boring. I haven't read the Aeneid, but I've seen the last few chapters criticized on that ground. If you know Aeneas is going to squash all his opponents effortlessly, why bother to read?