Sunday, September 21, 2014

What are two examples of deus ex machina in The Man who Came to Dinner by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart?

A deus ex machina is an unexpected event in the final act of a play or movie that could be considered contrived and a way to wrap up the plot. One example in the third act of The Man Who Came to Dinner is the use of the Egyptian mummy case sent to Sherry from the Khedive of Egypt. Sherry, who is repentant about having allowed Lorraine to try to seduce Bert, gets Banjo to help him lock Lorraine in the mummy case. The mummy case is a deus ex machina that the playwright uses to get rid of Lorraine so that Maggie and Bert can get married. The second example of a deus ex machina is the photograph of Harriet Stanley that Sherry catches sight of. He then suddenly realizes that she was a murderess and uses this information to convince Mr. Stanley to help him get the mummy case, which contains Lorraine, onto a plane. A final example of a deus ex machina is when Sherry slips on the stairs on the way out and threatens the Stanley family with another lawsuit unless they let him stay. 

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