What Is a Narrative Arc? | Definition & Examples
- Melchior Antoine
- Oct 13
- 6 min read
The narrative arc is also known as the story arc, and it’s more than just the plot of a story. Instead, it documents how the protagonist grows or regresses throughout the course of the play, novel, short story, or movie. In addition to this, when done well, it shows how the actions and decisions of the protagonist relate to the progression of the plot, the resolution of the conflict, and the fate of our hero.
A properly executed narrative arc should clearly display the connection between the characterization of our hero, their fatal flaw or decision, and the resolution of the conflict. It is made up of four parts: 1. Exposition (or Stasis); 2. Rising Action; 3. Climax; 4. Falling Action; and 5. Resolution.
The diagram below illustrates what a narrative arc looks like:
The Exposition provides background to the story and introduces the conflict or problem. Rising action refers to decisions taken by the protagonist to find a solution to the conflict and includes an increase in tension that culminates into the climax. It is in the climax that the main hero makes a fateful decision that determines their fate and how the conflict will be solved.
This fateful decision is typically followed by Falling Action, where the level of tension is reduced while events slowly unfold to the Resolution, in which the conflict is resolved and the fate of our hero is played out. In this article, we examine the meaning of a narrative arc for a story, using Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and Ned Starks’ storyline from the HBO series Game of Thrones as examples.
What is a narrative arc?
A narrative arc maps the journey of the hero, and in tragedy it has special significance. Tragedy places a high value on the idea that the fate of the hero is related to a fatal flaw. This describes a negative character trait, fateful decision, or a combination of both that seals the doom of the hero. If the fatal flaw is a decision it typically occurs at the climax of the story.
Before we proceed, let’s formally define what a narrative arc is:
A narrative arc is the chronological order of a plot in a story that maps out how a conflict is introduced, developed, and resolved.
In a well-written story, the fate of the hero is based on the decision that he or she takes in the climax of the narrative arc. This decision has to fit certain criteria. Fredson Bowers explains this quite well in his 1982 article, “Climax and Protagonist in Shakespeare's Dramatic Structure”:
. . . the tragic decision is an ethical one in that it is not enforced by external chance, or accident, but by internal, personal impulse or design.
This means that the protagonist is fully responsible for the decision that they make and its consequences. In addition, this decision must be implemented as an event or action that drives the plot toward its conclusion. One of the most famous examples of such a climax is in Hamlet , where the protagonist decides to kill Claudius in the Closet Scene and accidentally kills Polonius in the process.
We will now look at the narrative arc in another Shakespearean play, namely, Julius Caesar. The play is named after Julius Caesar. However, our protagonist is Brutus, a close friend of Caesar who is convinced to take part in his assassination, but whose life ends in tragedy when the allies of Caesar, Mark Antony and Augustus, turn the tables and avenge Caesar.
The table below provides a summary of the narrative arc in Julius Caesar:
Narrative Arc Element | Definition | Example from Hamlet |
Exposition | The introduction of the setting, main characters, and central conflict. |
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Rising Action | A series of events that build tension and develop the conflict. |
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Climax | The turning point where the hero’s fate is sealed. |
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Falling Action | Events that unfold as a result of the climax; complications begin to resolve. |
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Resolution (Denouement) | The conflict is resolved, and the story concludes, often with a sense of closure. |
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Here, it can be seen that the climax is not the assassination of Caesar, which is the most dramatic event in the play. Caesar's assassination is called the inciting incident. Instead, it is the decision by Brutus to allow Mark Antony to give his famous funeral speech that marks the climax of the play. His fellow conspirator, Cassius, warns him against it:
Do not consent
That Antony speak in his funeral.
Know you how much the people may be moved
By that which he will utter? (Act 3, Scene 1)
But Brutus ignores the advice. Instead, he goes ahead with an absurd show of magnanimity and allows Antony, a well-known rhetorician and ally to Caesar to deliver a speech, where he employs a rhetorical device known as praeteritio to paint the conspirators as lying and hypocritical villains. The crowd goes wild and riots against the conspirators who then have no choice but to flee the city.
Thus, the tables are turned. The conspirators who had successfully wrested power after the assassination of Caesar lose their position of strength and see Brutus and his allies rise, gain more power, and finally avenge Caesar. The climax does not work on its own. Instead, it has to be linked with the character of the protagonist and the decision or fatal flaw that he makes.
In the case of Brutus, his fatal flaw is both a character trait and a fateful decision. Brutus is an honorable man who genuinely believed that he was saving Rome from tyranny. However, he was politically naive and even stupid. Cassius, who is portrayed as being petty and jealous of Caesar, nonetheless is superior to Brutus both in political strategy and military tactics.
Brutus puts the “show of honor” over intelligent political and military strategy. It is something of a show, considering the fact that we are talking about a man who kills his good friend Caesar in an assassination, which is far from an honorable act.
This is echoed in Act 4, Scene 3, when Brutus decides against the advice of Cassius again to march on Antony’s and Octavius’ army at Philippi, instead of waiting for the enemy to come for them, which again leads to military defeat. In our next example, we are also going to look at the case of another honorable man who is also somewhat politically stupid, Ned Stark from the HBO series Game of Thrones, Season 1.
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The climax in Ned Stark’s narrative arc
Ned Stark’s story or narrative arc ends in tragedy: He has his head chopped off in Season 9 by a crazy boy king, Joffrey, son of Queen Cersei, a kind of femme fatale. Ned Stark is Lord of Winterfell and is appointed Hand of the King by King Robert Baratheon because he is trusted as an honorable man. He and his family move to the king's capital to carry out his duties as a Hand. During the course of his duties, he carries out an investigation that reveals that the queen has been involved in an incestuous affair with her own twin brother, Jamie Lannister.
More than that, all of the king's children are not really the king's children, but instead, they have all been fathered by Jamie Lannister. After finding out this secret, instead of keeping it to himself and waiting to tell the king, he feels compassion for the Queen. He knows the king very well and knows that he would likely execute Circe and all her kids.
He decides to give Cersei a head start by informing her that he knows because he wants to save the kids, because, as he says, “I will not have their blood on my hands.” In that same conversation, the queen warns him: “When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.” In a bout of bad writing, King Robert dies after being mauled by a boar during a hunt, just in time for the aftermath of the secret being revealed. It’s bad writing because the death of the king by accident is too convenient just before Ned Stark lets him know of the truth.
However, it is an effective climax for Ned Stark’s storyline. After Circe knows that Ned Stark knows her secret, she works with a character known as Little Finger, who fools Ned into believing that he’s an ally while conspiring with Cersei. Ned Stark, as a result, is betrayed, arrested, and eventually executed by Prince Joffrey, who is made king after the death of King Robert. Just like Brutus, Ned Stark’s political naivete and inflexible understanding of honor lead to his downfall.
References
Bowers, F. (1982). Climax and Protagonist in Shakespeare's Dramatic Structure. South Atlantic Review, 47(2), 22-52.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2025, October 13). What Is a Narrative Arc? | Definition & Examples. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/narrative-arc |
