Coincidence in the plots of novels

Coincidence is normally related to the connections of facts, expressions or the casual repetition of patterns by mere chance. This essay will study how writers use coincidences in a variety of ways. I will focus on explaining how coincidence is explored to convey ideas about good and evil, to show linguistic decay and to deny the role of coincidence themselves which results in a metafictional comment. This analysis will provide a historical understanding of how novelists have changed the way they accept, use and even reject the value of coincidental chance.
Firstly, the plot of "Moll Flanders" is heavily rooted in matters of coincidental luck. When Moll goes to Virginia with her third husband she discovers the man she is married to is really her brother and she meets her own mother. This causes distress to Moll, who keeps the secret until she realizes she is unable to remain silent any longer. This episode of Moll's life is therefore related to chance, for she marries her brother who happens to be in England at the time by mere chance. But one may be inclined to say that with this chapter in Moll's life, Defoe is trying to say something important about the nature of Providence. Throughout the novel, Defoe speaks about "the devil's temptations" on several occasions, so as to suggest that Moll is driven to a life of crime due to the presence of external forces, something beyond what humans can control. This implies forces of good and evil do control our lives. Traditional moral philosophy has accepted that ethics is concerned with what people do freely, the absence of freedom supposes a challenge to ethics. The fact that there are entities like "the devil's temptations" operating beyond our control implies that ideas of good and evil are something that human beings do not have power over. Since "the devil's temptations" is a recurring phrase in the novel, the reader ought to accept that Defoe is insisting on the idea of recurring patterns produced by the moral luck problem. With this meta-human element in mind, one may be inclined to say that these "coincidences" such as marrying her brother are not really a question of luck, but an issue to do with providential coincidence. As readers we are tempted to believe that these anti-humanistic forces of destiny have an effect upon the character's life. This effect can be unethical such as "the devil's temptations" or morally permissible such as Moll's discovery of her origins. By making Moll in contact with her family roots, Defoe suggests that Providence makes such a reunion possible. In other words, providential coincidence works as a meta-human unifying entity that helps Moll in her quest to identity. Coincidences operate at two levels: for good (Moll's reunion, which ties in with the idea of providential luck) and for bad (Moll's life of crime). Defoe uses these repetitions of patterns and expressions to show the presence of these forces that define people's destinies and uses them to make a comment on the nature of moral coincidences.
With regards to the use of coincidental chance to show linguistic decay, "Heart of darkness" portrays how coincidences in plots can be used to accomplish this goal. Conrad's experimentation of starting the novel with a nameless narrator who is not the main narrator splits the text into two narrative figures. The parallel between Marlow's narration and that of the sailor is highlighted by the fact that the expression "a heart of immense darkness" coincides in both stories. Marlow uses the term to point toward his expedition in Africa. When he joins the crew to look for Kurtz he says they are moving "into the heart of darkness". The image in this case contains a geographical meaning, since it refers to the "physical" heart of darkness. Marlow uses the term to indicate that "heart" means centre and that "darkness" refers to the unknown, virginal land: Africa. Therefore Marlow travels into the centre of Africa. By contrast, the first narrator uses the term in a slightly different way. He says that the ship is moving "into the heart of an immense darkness", in this context the term is used to portray the immorality of the Western value system. This metaphor explains that imperialism is a "heart of darkness" that corrupts the African "heart of darkness". The message boils down to the idea that in Europe people mask their violent 'state of nature', as Hobbes would argue. People establish a 'social contract' to avoid acknowledging their true nature, which is an irrational one. This 'natural state' is embodied by Kurtz, who far from being the prototypical European man orders to "exterminate all the brutes". This shows the moral decay, the hidden truth that the words "heart of darkness" as stated by the first narrator really mean. This creates an ambivalence in the use of the image "heart of darkness", for it signifies both a geographical truth and a moral one. The fact that both Marlow and the sailor mention the term suggests that language is unstable, its meaning changes depending on who is speaking. The use of the expression is indeed coincidental, but this coincidence shows one of the main themes in Conrad's novel: language has lost its purpose. Conrad uses matters of luck and parallels between the speeches of the narrators to react against the platonic idea that words provide an objectively clear truth and that a linguistic analysis of our everyday terms can boost our knowledge of ethical matters. Plato would say that if one knows what "goodness" really means, that person would never act badly, since he has understood the true nature of "goodness". Through the duality of the main image of the text, Conrad suggests that language has various functions, not one privileged, absolute meaning, it rather varies depending on who the character speaking really is. This duality is only possible if the coincidence in the speeches of both narrators is used as a thematic device in the plot.
Lastly, coincidence is sometimes used as a resource to demonstrate the metafictional aspect of novels. An example of this is "V for Vendetta". In Moore's graphic novel, when V is about to kill Delia he says "there is no coincidence, only the illusion of coincidence". This claim entails a deterministic truth, V suggests that everything that 'appears' to have come about by chance is, in fact, carefully arranged and pre-determined, which erodes the idea of luck. What V is saying is that humans get the impression of there being coincidences, due to the repetition of patterns through time, which we explain using the word "luck". However, according to V, there is no such thing as coincidence because there is no such thing as luck. Everything has been pre-configured and what 'seems' to be a recurring pattern is just the human inability to understand that the universe is pre-determined. The reason why one can argue that Moore uses this quotation to reflect on the metafictional elements of his own work is that the plot of the novel relies on matters of chance. To illustrate this, in the opening scene we see Evey and V dressing up at the same time. Moore juxtaposes the panels so as to suggest an element of foreshadowing, namely that there is a connection right from the beginning between V and Evey and that she will dress up 'as' V and put on the mask at the end of the novel. At first sight, the reader may be prone to say that this is just a coincidence; the panels are juxtaposed by chance. However, V's phrase "only the illusion of coincidence" states that Evey and V are not dressing up simultaneously by chance, rather that Evey is determined to become the next V. The reason why this has a metafictional dimension is that V's phrase seems to encompass everything in the universe, including "V for Vendetta" itself. There is no coincidence anywhere, not even in "V for Vendetta". V's phrase contains an absolutist tone, which encompasses a set of non-randomness. In this set everything is contained, Alan Moore's book is a thing, therefore it must be a product of non-coincidental repetitions of patterns. V's comment indicates that if the reader comes across what 'appears' to be coincidental chance, such as the juxtaposition of panels, V suggests that that will never be the case. The panels have been pre-configured by an external force, in this case, Alan Moore himself. Even V's quotation is not a matter of chance or randomness, it has been written by Alan Moore. V thinks nothing is random, not even his own phrase, for he is aware that he is a character inside a novel and he has been pre-configured by a writer. That is the reason why coincidence, or rather, the non-existence of coincidence, is a meta-novelistic feature.
To conclude, this essay has analyzed how throughout the history of novels writers have used coincidence as a plot device. Such a device can explore the idea of external forces and the instability of the human means of communication. The denial of the existence of coincidence and its replacement with an illusion can also entail a metafictional comment.  

"Sueños" de Quevedo

Juan Echanove protagoniza en el papel del brillante escritor barroco la adaptación libre basada en "Los Sueños", la obra en prosa del inigualable Francisco de Quevedo.
La producción en sí misma, que está siendo representada hasta principios de mayo en el Teatro de la Comedia de Madrid consta de grandes momentos y algunas escenas algo más flojas que reducen la intensidad dramática de la adaptación. Adaptar a Quevedo, y más una obra originalmente en prosa, siempre es un reto. Es casi imposible explorar con éxito los intrincados dobles sentidos, las excelentes metáforas, los juegos de palabras y el tono herido de los textos del escritor español. La adaptación dirigida por Collado no logra capturar la grandeza quevediana y hay momentos en los que el espectador se encuentra ligeramente perdido a causa de la ausencia de una historia coherente. Sin embargo, la producción es capaz de desarrollar en profundidad los temas que plagan el conjunto de los escritos del conceptista madrileño. La adaptación libre nos habla de la decadencia física y moral de Quevedo y España (a esto ayuda el hecho de que parte del guión de la obra está relacionado con partes de la biografía de un Quevedo enfermo, lo que constituye una bonita alegoría y una inteligente decisión artística), la presencia constante de la muerte, las preocupaciones del amor no correspondido, la corrupción, la teología... La obra sacrifica una historia en favor de los temas, lo que da un resultado un tanto inusual, extraño, algo desconectado pero gratificante.
Entre los grandes momentos de la obra destaca el sobresaliente "Amor constante más allá de la muerte", que contiene unos de los mejores versos de la poesía castellana y que está maravillosamente interpretado por un Echanove soberbio y lleno de pasión que aporta mucho a esta escena preciosa. El ambiente onírico de la obra estaba bastante bien logrado. La escena del infierno blanco contiene grandes contrastes entre los colores blanco y negro y recrea visualmente algunas de las imágenes más inquietantes y filosóficas de Quevedo. El infierno no arde, es blanco, es la nada. ¿Qué hay más horrible que tener todo el tiempo del mundo pero no poder hacer nada con él al estar rodeado de un universo frío cargado de un impasible tono blanco? Respecto al elenco, por supuesto, Echanove logra darnos una interpretación memorable que desborda el sentimiento de un poeta malherido y entrado en desgracia. Cabe mencionar a Óscar de la Fuente como el Diablo y el Cardenal, papeles muy distintos entre sí (lo que muestra la versatilidad del actor) pero al mismo tiempo conectados por los temas de corrupción eclesiástica.
En resumen, una producción diferente a las que se hacen normalmente pero con un objetivo original e innovador y algunas actuaciones memorables.