Deus ex Machina

[The Saucepan Man]

we, the audience, usually need some sort of foreshadowing or setup in order to make the DEM satisfying.

Sorry to be a fly in the ointment again, but isn't it the sudden and unexpected nature of a DEM that helps define it as such? If an event is foreshadowed, it is not unexpected when it occurs, or at least we are not surprised when it occurs. I had understood that DEM involved something that was so unexpected, having not previously been a feature of the story, that it does seem faintly ridiculous to the reader, just like the God being lowered onto the stage by a winch.

Or perhaps I'm being unduly restrictive in my interpretation and slightly unfair on DEM as a plot device. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Edit: You may think that the combination of this and my previous post suggests that I consider Tom Bombadil to be faintly ridiculous, but I couldn't possibly comment. [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]

[ February 28, 2003: Message edited by: The Saucepan Man ]