Denouement

The denouement is the concluding component of the plot, the moment of the resolution of the main conflict, when the final result of the clash of forces sets in, the fate of the characters is clarified, and the action ends. The denouement follows logically from the climax and sums up the development of events; it may be happy, tragic, unexpected, or open (when the ending remains undefined, prompting the reader to reflection). The character of the denouement depends on the genre: in tragedy it is usually connected with the hero's destruction, in comedy with a prosperous ending. For example, the tragic denouement of Lesia Ukrainka's drama The Forest Song is the death of Mavka and Lukash, but with the affirmation of the immortality of beauty and spirit. In Panas Myrny's novel the denouement is the ruin and condemnation of the rebel Chipka. An open denouement is often used by modern prose, leaving the ending polysemous and unfinished.