Anagnorisis (plural -ises) is the Greek word for 'recognition' or
'discovery', used by Aristotle in his Poetics to denote the turning point in a
drama at which a character (usually the protagonist) recognizes the true
state of affairs, having previously been in error or ignorance. The classic
instance is Oedipus' recognition, in Oedipus Tyrannus, that he himself has
killed his own father Laius, married his mother Jocasta, and brought the plague
upon Thebes. The anagnorisis is usually combined with the play's peripeteia or
reversal of fortunes, in comedy as in tragedy. Similarly, the plots of many
novels involve crucial anagnorises, e.g. Pip's discovery, in Great
Expectations, that Magwitch rather than Miss Havisham has been his secret
benefactor.