in medias res
What is In Medias Res? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples
In Medias Res Definition
In medias res (inn ME-dee-ahs RACE) comes from “Ars Poetica,” a letter written by Ancient Roman poet Horace in which he offers advice to young poets. Among the gems of wisdom is “Semper ad eventum festinat et in medias res…,” which roughly translates to “The result is always eager to get in the middle of things.” This is often clarified to mean “He always hurries to the main event and whisks his audience into the middle of things as though they already knew.”
As a literary term, in medias res refers to a literary work beginning at a point in its narrative other than the chronological beginning. For example, an in medias res retelling of a popular nursery rhyme would start with Jack and Jill halfway up (or halfway down) the infamous hill.
In Medias Res in TV and Movies
In medias res is so common in visual media, it’s connected to several TV and movie tropes. For example, the premise for the long-running sitcom How I Met Your Mother is a widowed father telling his children about his younger days, ultimately leading up to the titular tale. Here, in medias res intersects with the “how we got here” trope, in which the bulk of a story is used to explain how a character arrived at the destination where we meet them in the introduction.
In medias res often intersects with other tropes, including “anarchic order” and “mind screw.”
Quentin Tarantino is a writer/director known for leaning on anarchic order: telling a story with a mixed-up chronology. For example, Kill Bill: Volume 1 starts with the protagonist killing the number-two victim on her list and ends with her killing the number-one victim.
“Mind screw” refers to a work that is overly symbolic or seemingly absurd for absurdity’s sake. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind seems to start with a couple meeting for the first time, but given the film’s dependency on the concept of elective memory erasure, audiences may wonder whether they’re truly seeing the couple meet for the first time or the second.
Examples of in Medias Res in Literature
1. Homer, The Odyssey
One criterion for epic poetry is that the tale begin in medias res. This makes sense considering epic poetry has its roots in oral storytelling; starting in medias res is more compelling.
The Odyssey begins with the hero, Odysseus, on an island, quite a ways into his long journey home after the Trojan War. Once the gods intervene to help him escape from a powerful nymph who falls in love with him, Odysseus sets off again. However, a storm—the product of another god’s intervention—strands Odysseus on another island, where he begins to tell his story to King Alcinous.
2. Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”
Another epic poem of sorts, Whitman’s opus begins in the middle of a different type of journey: one of self-discovery. The poem begins from the perspective of mid-life, and Whitman toggles the metaphorical camera from present to past to future and deep into the mind.
3. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah
The novel’s protagonist, Ifemelu, leaves her home in Nigeria as a young woman to study in the United States. When the novel opens, she has lived in Princeton, New Jersey, for a few years. She wants to have her hair braided for a trip back home and must travel by train because there are no black-owned salons where she lives.
From here, the close third-person narrative moves around chronologically and geographically, seamlessly advancing several storylines at once: intense first love blooming between Ifemelu and her high school sweetheart, Obinze; Obinze living in Nigeria, married, wealthy, and unhappy, while Ifemelu is in the States; and Ifemelu first arriving in America and struggling with the absurdity of American culture and racial politics. The juxtaposition of all these times and places adds poignancy and texture to this vibrant novel.
Further Resources on In Medias Res
TVTropes features several articles on how and where in medias res appears in literature, film, TV, comics, and beyond.
David K. Israel wrote about his five favorite examples of in medias res in literature for Mental Floss.
Now Novel provides a short guide for writers hoping to use in medias res in their story.