Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract , trust , or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Often betrayal is the act of supporting a rival group, or it is a complete break from previously decided upon or presumed norms by one party from the others. Someone who betrays others is commonly known as a traitor or betrayer .
41-398: Betrayal is a commonly used story element in fiction, sometimes used as a plot twist . Philosophers Judith Shklar and Peter Johnson , authors of The Ambiguities of Betrayal and Frames of Deceit , respectively, contend that while no clear definition of betrayal is available, betrayal is more effectively understood through literature . Rodger L. Jackson explains why a clear definition
82-441: A dissociative identity disorder , and is not executed on plea of insanity. Near the end, Aaron's lawyer discovers that he feigned his insanity to avoid the death penalty. Agatha Christie's classic And Then There Were None is another famous example and includes the term as well in a murder ploy where the intended victims are made to guess that one of them will be killed through an act of treachery. The complete second timeline of
123-470: A Time in the West or Frederick Forsyth 's The Odessa File . A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending, is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction. A cliffhanger is hoped to incentivize the audience to return to see how the characters resolve the dilemma. A notable example
164-419: A constellation of negative behaviours, thoughts, and feelings in both its victims and its perpetrators. The interactions are complex. The victims exhibit anger and confusion , and demand atonement from the perpetrator, who in turn may experience guilt or shame , and exhibit remorse . If, after the perpetrator has exhibited remorse or apologized, the victim continues to express anger, this may in turn cause
205-403: A conventional sense, but whose protagonists are still considered "narrators" in the sense that the film is presented from their perspective and the audience mainly encounters the narrative and diegesis through that character's point of view. Peripeteia is a sudden reversal of the protagonist's fortune, whether for good or ill, that emerges naturally from the character's circumstances. Unlike
246-427: A different context. A plot twist may be foreshadowed , to prepare the audience to accept it, but it usually comes with some element of surprise. There are various methods used to execute a plot twist, such as withholding information from the audience, or misleading them with ambiguous or false information. Not every plot has a twist, but some have multiple lesser ones, and some are defined by a single major twist. Since
287-483: A form of false foreshadowing . A false protagonist is a character presented at the start of the story as the main character, but then disposed of, usually killed to emphasize that they will not return. An example is Psycho ' s Marion Crane (portrayed by Janet Leigh ), who is brutally murdered about halfway through the film. Another instance is the film Executive Decision , in which the special-forces team leader, played by highly-billed action star Steven Seagal ,
328-513: A mystery, places a character in a different light, or reveals the reason for a previously inexplicable action. The Alfred Hitchcock film Marnie employed this type of surprise ending. Sometimes this is combined with the above category, as the flashback may reveal the true identity of one of the characters, or that the protagonist is related to one of the villain's past victims, as Sergio Leone did with Charles Bronson 's character in Once Upon
369-406: A nonsexual affair, lying, forming a coalition against the partner, absenteeism, disrespect, unfairness, selfishness, and breaking promises. Double cross is a phrase meaning to deceive by double-dealing. The phrase originates from the use of the word cross in the sense of foul play : deliberate collusion to cause someone to lose a contest of some kind. It has also been suggested that the term
410-597: A similar approach; it begins with the main protagonist, Aeneas , telling stories about the end of the Trojan War and the first half of his journey to Dido , queen of Carthage . The nonlinear approach has been used in works such as the films Mulholland Drive , Sin City , Saw IV , Premonition , Arrival , Pulp Fiction , Memento , Babel , the television shows Lost , How to Get Away with Murder , How I Met Your Mother (especially in many episodes in
451-427: A twist ending in a murder mystery was in " The Three Apples ", a medieval Arabian Nights tale, where the protagonist Ja'far ibn Yahya discovers by chance a key item towards the end of the story that reveals the culprit behind the murder to have been his own slave all along. Flashback , or analepsis, a sudden, vivid reversion to a past event, surprises the reader with previously unknown information that solves
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#1732783357934492-425: Is a Latin term meaning "god from the machine." It refers to an unexpected, artificial or improbable character, device or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction to resolve a situation or untangle a plot. In Ancient Greek theater , the "deus ex machina" ('ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός') was the character of a Greek god literally brought onto the stage via a crane (μηχανῆς— mechanes ), after which a seemingly insoluble problem
533-485: Is a conceptually clear account of betrayal that differentiates between genuine and merely perceived betrayal, and which also provides systematic guidance for the assessment of alleged betrayal in real life. Ben-Yehuda's 2001 work ("Betrayals and Treason Violations of Trust and Loyalty" Westview Press) framed all forms of betrayals and treason under a unifying analytical framework using loyalty , trust and moral boundaries as explanatory tools. An act of betrayal creates
574-411: Is a type of misdirection , a device intended to distract the protagonist , and by extension the reader, away from the correct answer or from the site of pertinent clues or action. The Indian murder mystery film Gupt: The Hidden Truth cast many veteran actors who had usually played villainous roles in previous Indian films as red herrings in this film to deceive the audience into suspecting them. In
615-550: Is brought to a satisfactory resolution by the god's will. The term is now used pejoratively for any improbable or unexpected contrivance by which an author resolves the complications of the plot in a play or novel, and which has not been convincingly prepared for in the preceding action; the discovery of a lost will was a favorite resort of Victorian novelists. A red herring is a false clue intended to lead investigators toward an incorrect solution. This device usually appears in detective novels and mystery fiction . The red herring
656-459: Is in the 1980 Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back where protagonist Luke Skywalker who initially believed that the antagonist Darth Vader had killed his father, Anakin after Obi-Wan Kenobi told it to him in A New Hope is shocked and horrified when the latter tells him that he himself is his father Anakin, with the revelation eventually being fully dealt with and resolved in Return of
697-608: Is killed shortly after the mission begins. The character of Casey Becker (played by then A-list actress Drew Barrymore ) in Scream is killed in the first fifteen minutes. An example in literature and television is Ned Stark in the Game of Thrones franchise , who is killed before the end of the first book/season, despite receiving the most focus of the ensemble of characters. A non-linear narrative works by revealing plot and character in non-chronological order. This technique requires
738-401: Is needed: Betrayal is both a "people" problem and a philosopher's problem. Philosophers should be able to clarify the concept of betrayal, compare and contrast it with other moral concepts, and critically assess betrayal situations. At the practical level people should be able to make honest sense of betrayal and also to temper its consequences: to handle it, not be assaulted by it. What we need
779-481: Is not exclusive to victims. Perpetrators, and witnesses may also display betrayal blindness in order to preserve personal relationships, their relationships with institutions, and social systems upon which they depend. The term "Institutional Betrayal" refers to wrongdoings perpetrated by an institution upon individuals dependent on that institution. This includes failure to prevent or respond supportively to wrongdoings by individuals (e.g. sexual assault) committed within
820-541: Is that the former is historically seen as being caused primarily by fear , whereas betrayal trauma is a response to extreme anger . Another key difference is that betrayal trauma involves an individual experiencing a violation of trust between a trusted individual or institution, whereas posttraumatic stress disorder does not involve a violation from a trusted source. John Gottman 's What Makes Love Last? describes betrayal as "a noxious invader, arriving with great stealth" that undermines seemingly stable romances and lies at
861-464: Is the protagonist's sudden recognition of his or her own or another character's true identity or nature. Through this technique, previously unforeseen character information is revealed. A notable example of anagnorisis occurs in Oedipus Rex : Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother in ignorance, learning the truth only toward the climax of the play. The earliest use of this device as
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#1732783357934902-497: The deus ex machina device, peripeteia must be logical within the frame of the story. An example of a reversal for ill would be Agamemnon 's sudden murder at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra in Aeschylus ' The Oresteia or the inescapable situation Kate Hudson 's character finds herself in at the end of The Skeleton Key . This type of ending was a common twist ending utilised by The Twilight Zone , most effectively in
943-680: The Double Cross System to release captured Nazis and have them transmit to Germany false information. Betrayal blindness is the unawareness, not-knowing, and forgetting exhibited by people towards betrayal. The term "betrayal blindness" was introduced in 1996 by Freyd, and expanded in 1999 by Freyd and then again in 2013 by Freyd and Birrell through the Betrayal Trauma Theory. This betrayal blindness may extend to betrayals that are not considered traditional traumas, such as adultery, and inequities. Betrayal blindness
984-457: The Jedi (1983). An unreliable narrator twists the ending by revealing, almost always at the end of the narrative, that the narrator has manipulated or fabricated the preceding story, thus forcing the reader to question his or her prior assumptions about the text. This motif is often used within noir fiction and films , notably in the film The Usual Suspects . An unreliable narrator motif
1025-597: The New Sun , the second episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents , Premonition , the 1920 German silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , Iain Pears 's An Instance of the Fingerpost , Shutter Island and Kim Newman 's Life's Lottery . The term "unreliable narrator" is sometimes applied to films (such as the aforementioned Brazil and Shutter Island ) which do not feature any voice-over narration in
1066-520: The bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code , the misdeeds of a key character named "Bishop Aringarosa" draw attention away from the true master villain ("Aringarosa" literally translates as "pink herring"). In the William Diehl novel Primal Fear (also adapted into a film ), a defendant named Aaron Stampler is accused of brutally murdering the Archbishop of Chicago. He is revealed to have
1107-411: The chest is broken open and a corpse is found inside. The initial search for the murderer fails, and a twist occurs when two men appear, separately claiming to be the murderer. A complex chain of events finally reveals the murderer to be the investigator's own slave. Literary analysts have identified several common categories of plot twists, based on how they are executed. Anagnorisis , or discovery,
1148-409: The context of the institution. Plot twist A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist ending or surprise ending . It may change the audience's perception of the preceding events, or introduce a new conflict that places it in
1189-404: The effectiveness of a plot twist usually relies on the audience's not having expected it, revealing a plot twist to readers or viewers in advance is commonly regarded as a spoiler . Even revealing the fact that a work contains plot twists – especially at the ending – can also be controversial, as it changes the audience's expectations. However, at least one study suggests that this does not affect
1230-560: The enjoyment of a work. Many television series, especially in crime fiction , use plot twists as a theme in every episode and some base their whole premise on the twist; for example, The Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected . An early example of the romance genre with multiple twists was the Arabian Nights tale " The Three Apples ". It begins with a fisherman discovering a locked chest. The first twist occurs when
1271-415: The episode " Time Enough at Last " where Burgess Meredith 's character is robbed of all his hope by a simple but devastating accident with his eyeglasses. A positive reversal of fortune would be Nicholas Van Orton's suicide attempt after mistakenly believing himself to have accidentally killed his brother, only to land safely in the midst of his own birthday party, in the film The Game . Deus ex machina
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1312-444: The heart of every failing relationship, even if the couple is unaware of it. Gottman computed a betrayal metric by calculating how unwilling each partner was to sacrifice for the other and the relationship. A consistently elevated betrayal metric served as an indicator that the couple was at risk for infidelity or another serious disloyalty. Some types of betrayal in romantic relationships include sexual infidelity, conditional commitment,
1353-531: The initial cause represents a "twist ending". Examples employing this technique include the films Irréversible , Memento , Happy End and 5x2 , the play Betrayal by Harold Pinter , and Martin Amis ' Time's Arrow . Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along and the 1934 Kaufman and Hart play that inspired it both tell the story of the main characters in reverse order. cross Too Many Requests If you report this error to
1394-410: The later seasons), Heroes , Westworld , the book Catch-22 , and WandaVision . Reverse chronology works by revealing the plot in reverse order, i.e., from final event to initial event. Unlike chronological storylines, which progress through causes before reaching a final effect, reverse chronological storylines reveal the final effect before tracing the causes leading up to it; therefore,
1435-430: The one who was betrayed can accept that it happened, and that the perpetrator is unwilling or unable to change. No real change means they can do it again. Lack of validation from the perpetrator can be been described as a "second assault," which can exacerbate the effects of the initial trauma incurred. Accepting the betrayal and going no contact is the best route forward. The alternative is to stay in connection and realize
1476-461: The perpetrator to become defensive , and angry in turn. Acceptance of betrayal can be exhibited if victims forgo the demands of atonement and retribution ; but is only demonstrated if the victims do not continue to demand apologies, repeatedly remind the perpetrator or perpetrators of the original act, or ceaselessly review the incident over and over again. If no true apology, atonement, real remorse and plan to change one's behaviors are present, then
1517-498: The reader to attempt to piece together the timeline in order to fully understand the story. A twist ending can occur as the result of information that is held until the climax and which places characters or events in a different perspective. Some of the earliest known uses of non-linear story telling occur in The Odyssey , a work that is largely told in flashback via the narrator Odysseus . The Aeneid , another epic poem , uses
1558-514: The sixth season of the television series Lost is a red herring: initially, this second timeline seems to be an alternate timeline in which Oceanic 815 never crashes (the main timeline revolves around the crashing of such plane on an island ). However, one of the last scenes reveals that this timeline is "a place" where the characters of the series meet after they have died, similar to the Bardo or Limbo concept. A red herring can also be used as
1599-415: The trespass can happen again, and may choose to avoid doing certain things to decrease severity. For example, if a person gossips, do not tell them your secrets. Betrayal trauma has symptoms similar to posttraumatic stress disorder , although the element of amnesia and dissociation is likely to be greater. The key difference between traditional posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and betrayal trauma
1640-657: Was employed by Agatha Christie in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd , a novel that generated much controversy due to critics' contention that it was unfair to trick the reader in such a manipulative manner. Another example of unreliable narration is a character who has been revealed to be insane and thus causes the audience to question the previous narrative; notable examples of this are in the Terry Gilliam film Brazil , Chuck Palahniuk 's Fight Club (and David Fincher 's film adaptation ), Gene Wolfe 's novel Book of
1681-626: Was inspired by the practice of 18th-century British thief taker and criminal Jonathan Wild , who kept a ledger of his transactions and is said to have placed two crosses by the names of persons who had cheated him in some way. This folk etymology is almost certainly incorrect, but there is documentary evidence that the term did exist in the 19th century. More recently, the phrase was used to refer to either of two possible situations: This use has passed into common parlance, so that, for example, in World War II , British Military Intelligence used