Poetic Justice: What Does It Consist Of?

Poetic justice is a longing, an ideal that offers us harmony in a world in which justice is sometimes anything but just. Define those situations in which bad actions are always punished in the same proportion as the act committed and where good actions are rewarded and valued. Few things give us greater peace of mind than seeing logic triumph in a world where illogical acts are committed.

Now … isn’t that how every legal system in charge of applying that to what we call “justice” works? Actually, not always. Moreover, sometimes, the world of jurisprudence or law is not as blind as it should. Favoritism abounds, stratagems that border on illegality and even errors that time and common sense cannot repair.

It was the English poet and historian Thomas Rymer who coined the term poetic justice in 1678 in his work The Tragedies of the Last Age Considered »  In this work he tried to establish an idea: although in real life true justice is not always done, in literature and poetry the latter can always be achieved.

Poetic justice, the search for a more virtuous world

Each of us has an internal model of what we understand by justice. Now, if we put all our ideas and conceptions in common, we would outline the same typology: poetic justice. Our inner being experiences deep pleasure when, suddenly, events occur that conform to this model of jurisprudence.

We are comforted, for example, by reading news about how a group of lions has devoured poachers who were going to kill them. We see well that the thief who has just assaulted an old woman suffers an accident in the car while escaping. Also that the politician who practiced corruption is finally tried and jailed. There is a certain harmony in these acts, a certain balance that satisfies and even calms us.

Likewise, this sort of exemplary outcome is a constant in the world of cinema and also in literature. Let’s face it, we love those productions where the baddie gets, as they say, a spoonful of his own medicine. Seeing how whoever committed a mean act receives his punishment, while the hero obtains all the recognitions, generates well-being.

Thus, classical authors such as Horacio or Plutarco have already used this type of exemplary and inspiring justice in their works. Let’s get to know the three components that define this dimension.

Punishment for the wicked

Poetic justice is defined by a key and transcendental element: evil is always punished in proportion to the act committed. This is perhaps one of the aspects that stand out the most. Because, at times, our legal system is disproportionate or poorly adjusted.

There are times when the thief who steals to eat spends a good part of his life in prison, while those who steal to enrich themselves are spared any penalty by the expertise of their lawyers. That is why circumstances are so important, that is why true justice has a lot to do with fairness.

The good not only triumphs, it is also recognized

The recognition of the good is one of the pillars of poetic justice. We all know that goodness, heroism or the person who suffers the effect of evil in their own skin do not always feel fully recognized. In many cases, this lack of appreciation prevents reparation.

However, poetic law highlights the role of the victim who suffered and also of the person who fought to defend the truth. To recognize the role of heroes is to allow goodness to triumph.

Triumph of logic

Seeing evil punished and goodness recognized confers a kind of deep extra-procedural satisfaction. Furthermore, a type of mental and emotional harmony is generated in the brain because moral and ethical logic have triumphed.

After all, the true purpose of poetic justice is to emphasize and celebrate morality. It is a reminder that behaving morally is the most suitable and recommended option in all forms of society.

The role of poets, writers and philosophers in the world of law and jurisprudence

Martha Nussbaum is a renowned American philosopher and author of the book Poetic Justice: The Literary Imagination and Public Life . In this work, which combines the field of law and philosophy, a central idea stands out: judges and lawyers need greater humanity and a way to achieve it is through poetry, literature and philosophy.

To achieve a more just and equitable society, we must stop focusing on that colder and more calculating area that is economic power. If we educate the new generations in the subversive power of poetry and philosophy, surely, we would give the world more sensitive, just, humane and empathic scientists, judges and legislators.

Reading educates us and instills in us the need to transform the world from a more ethical point of view. Because in much of literature and the poetic universe there is implicitly navigated that poetic justice that we all yearn for and that is not always applied.