tragic ending
Story's sorrowful close
A tragic ending is a conclusion marked by catastrophe, death, or irreversible loss—the opposite of a happy ending.
The term applies to stories, relationships, careers, or lives that conclude in sorrow rather than triumph: Romeo and Juliet has one of literature's most famous tragic endings.
In classical tragedy, the ending follows inevitably from the hero's fatal flaw.
- fatal flawRuinous character defect
- ruinComplete destruction or collapse
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- poisoned chaliceApparent prize, actual curse
- heartbreakCrushing emotional pain
catharsis · dramatic irony · star-crossed · blood · fate · inevitability · grave · falling star · denouement · sorrow · death scene · dying words · grief · untimely · untimely death · despair · mourning · climax
- soap operassoap opera, telenovela, melodrama, cliffhanger, amnesia
- Revenge TragedyHamlet, revenge plot, avenger, retribution, blood revenge
- Romantic Dramadoomed love, romantic hero, forbidden love, star-crossed lovers, doomed romance
- tragic romanceRomeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, Wuthering Heights, doomed lovers, star-crossed
- Asian DramasK-drama, J-drama, Korean drama, Japanese drama, Chinese drama
- forbidden loveforbidden love, forbidden romance, illicit love, secret love, forbidden fruit
narrative outcome
tragic endinghappy ending
Story concludes well
happily ever after · fairy tale ending · wish fulfillment · bittersweet ending · deus ex machina