| an ideal distribution of rewards and punishments such as is common in some poetry and fiction. |
| poetic justice n. The rewarding of virtue and the punishment of vice, often in an especially appropriate or ironic manner. |
poetic justice
An outcome in which virtue is rewarded and evil punished, often in an especially appropriate or ironic manner. For example, It was poetic justice for the known thief to go to jail for the one crime he didn't commit. [Early 1700s]
poetic justice
in literature, an outcome in which vice is punished and virtue rewarded, usually in a manner peculiarly or ironically appropriate. The term was coined by the English literary critic Thomas Rymer in the 17th century, when it was believed that a work of literature should uphold moral principles and instruct the reader in correct moral behaviour.
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