Definition
Peripeteia is the dramatic turning point where everything changes direction for the protagonist. Aristotle coined the term in his Poetics, calling it one of the most powerful tools in storytelling. It's not just any plot twist - it's a reversal that grows logically from the character's own actions, making it feel both shocking and inevitable.
Why It Matters
A well-crafted peripeteia is what separates a story that merely surprises readers from one that devastates them. When your character's greatest triumph becomes the seed of their downfall (or vice versa), readers feel the full emotional weight of the narrative. If your story's big turning point feels random or forced, you probably need to strengthen the causal chain that leads to the reversal.
Types of Peripeteia
Famous Examples
Oedipus seeks the truth to save Thebes, and each step toward knowledge is a step toward his own destruction - the textbook peripeteia.
Hank finds the Walt Whitman book in the bathroom, and Walter White's carefully constructed double life begins its irreversible collapse.
Briony's act of accusation, meant to protect her sister, destroys the lives of everyone she loves - a reversal built on a child's misunderstanding.
Common Mistakes
The reversal must grow from the character's own choices or flaws. If it comes from nowhere, it's just bad luck, not peripeteia.
Not every surprise is a peripeteia. The reversal must fundamentally change the character's trajectory, not just reveal new information.
The higher the character climbs before the fall (or the lower they sink before the rise), the more powerful the reversal. Don't rush past the setup.
Try It Yourself
Write a scene (500-800 words) where a character receives the thing they've been desperately pursuing - a promotion, a confession of love, a long-sought answer - and in the very same moment, realize it will ruin them. Focus on the exact instant their triumph curdles into dread. Make sure the reversal connects to a choice the character made earlier.
Plot the reversal that changes everything
Novelium's plotting tools help you map your story's turning points and trace the causal chain that makes a peripeteia feel inevitable. See your character's arc from rise to fall in one visual timeline.