Near the end of the epic novel ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, a wizard-like character known only as The Wise Catalonian sends a crew of literary nerds out on a quest for a mythical “thirty-seventh dramatic situation” -- the prevailing view being that there are, in fact, only thirty-six.
The genesis of the idea Gabriel Garcia Marquez is playing with here may be found in Georges Polti’s book The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations (1895), a fascinating attempt to categorize all the possible dramatic scenarios that can occur in storytelling. The task the Wise Catalonian assigns to the young bookworms can, as I’m sure Marquez knew, be categorized under situations nine and twelve.
Marquez’s Wise Catalonian is, via Polti, pointing writers – and everyone – toward a fascinating and enduring feature of the human condition, namely, the reality that conflict -- in our drama, our literature, and our everyday life -- is both universal and particular. It is, to put it in another way, archetypal. Conflicts and the situations that give rise to them are, very broadly speaking, limited in their basic form, but infinite in their potential expression. Something tells me Jung and Campbell would agree with this conception of conflict.
Polti’s list is pretty damn cool. It appears below. I don’t know ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE well enough yet to confirm that Marquez checks off all thirty-six throughout his novel, but I suspect he does. Once I finish the book, I’ll start the Netflix series as I reread this book, checklist in hand.
In the meantime, this list is a fine tool for screenwriters and other wizards.
1. Supplication – A character appeals to a higher power for deliverance from misfortune.
2. Deliverance – A character is rescued from danger by another.
3. Crime Pursued by Vengeance – A crime is committed, and retribution follows.
4. Vengeance Taken for Kindred Upon Kindred – A family member takes revenge for another family member.
5. Pursuit – One character is being chased by another.
6. Disaster – A calamity befalls the protagonist.
7. Falling Prey to Cruelty or Misfortune – Innocence is shattered by external cruelty.
8. Revolt – A character rises up against an authority or system.
9. Daring Enterprise – Bold action is taken to achieve a difficult goal.
10. Abduction – Someone is taken away against their will.
11. The Enigma – A riddle or mystery is posed and must be solved.
12. Obtaining – Characters struggle to win a desired object.
13. Enmity of Kinsmen – Family members are in conflict.
14. Rivalry of Kinsmen – Family competes for power, love, or legacy.
15. Murderous Adultery – Passion leads to betrayal and death.
16. Madness – A character is driven insane.
17. Fatal Imprudence – A fatal mistake is made.
18. Involuntary Crimes of Love – A character commits a crime unwittingly, often involving a loved one.
19. Slaying of a Kinsman Unrecognized – A tragic mistake of identity leads to familial tragedy.
20. Self-Sacrifice for an Ideal – A character dies or suffers for a principle.
21. Self-Sacrifice for Kindred – Sacrifices made for the sake of family.
22. All Sacrificed for Passion – Desire consumes and destroys.
23. Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones – Duty demands the unthinkable.
24. Rivalry of Superior and Inferior – A contest of unequal opponents.
25. Adultery – Unfaithfulness disrupts the social order.
26. Crimes of Love – Transgressive desire leads to crime.
27. Discovery of the Dishonor of a Loved One – A revelation brings shame or betrayal.
28. Obstacles to Love – Love is thwarted by external forces.
29. An Enemy Loved – Loving someone who must not be loved.
30. Ambition – The desire for power or greatness.
31. Conflict with a God – Human challenges divine will or fate.
32. Mistaken Jealousy – Love curdled by misperception.
33. Erroneous Judgment – A wrong decision ruins everything.
34. Remorse – A character is haunted by guilt.
35. Recovery of a Lost One – A long-lost person returns.
36. Loss of Loved Ones – Grief drives the story forward.
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Thank you.
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Thanks for sharing this, Yusuf Toropov. I'm using a lot of these in a TV series I'm outlining, like Disaster (a lot of Disaster, and all kinds of it!).
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I know the list. And since our society has changed a lot since it was created. Take one of the items and think about the very opposite. For example number 8. Instead of the revolt we have parents who want their 25 year old child to start live a life on their own. Or number 25, One person would like to become a swinger but the partner says no. And so on. So perhaps we should write a new list with modern addenda.
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I’ve heard of this list but never sought it out.
Interesting that many of these sound similar to each other. Also that I can imagine many stories that contain multiple scenarios.