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whence

ebrahim

Senior Member
Persian
Hi,
I need a through explanation on the red phrase. Particularly I need to know: To what does 'whence' refer to and what is the main verb of the phrase starting with 'whence'? <<another question moved here.>>

"Our era likewise is dominated by displays of power and wealth, by an apparently insatiable cruelty, and by an immense (and immensely pleasurable) playfulness. The neo-baroque is as addicted to games as the old baroque, and indeed as its inspiration in the Roman Empire—whence the success of Gladiator (2000), a film that has the honesty to revel in the violent games it depicts, avoiding the hypocrisy of earlier sword-and-sandals epics."

Film Theory and Contemporary Hollywood Movies, chapter two: The Supernatural in Neo-baroque Hollywood, by Sean Cubitt
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Whence = from which [came]; as a result of which [we understand], etc.
I still can't grasp the structure. I feel something is missing in the sentence. doesn't 'whence the success of Gladiator' need a main verb? Also what does 'whence' refer to?​



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There is no main verb. This is a peculiarity of 'whence' and 'hence', that they can introduce noun phrases like this. You can imagine it with some linking verb like 'comes': whence comes the success of Gladiator = and from this comes the success of Gladiator. I'm not sure what precisely "this" points back to: the neo-baroque's addiction to games, I suppose.

You see this use in forming, in effect, complete sentences. 'I thought it was going to rain today. Hence the umbrella.' Just accept this as an idiom; I wouldn't like to suggest there was a longer form that was grammatically complete: you can't just add a verb there.
There is no main verb. This is a peculiarity of 'whence' and 'hence', that they can introduce noun phrases like this. You can imagine it with some linking verb like 'comes': whence comes the success of Gladiator = and from this comes the success of Gladiator. I'm not sure what precisely "this" points back to: the neo-baroque's addiction to games, I suppose.

You see this use in forming, in effect, complete sentences. 'I thought it was going to rain today. Hence the umbrella.' Just accept this as an idiom; I wouldn't like to suggest there was a longer form that was grammatically complete: you can't just add a verb there.
Thank you. But there is no 'this' in my quote. Tell me what 'it' refers to instead.
No, but there was a "this" in my quote, giving an equivalent for 'whence'. Or you could regard 'whence' as equivalent to the relative expression "from which", where 'which' has the vague reference "the situation just mentioned".
No, but there was a "this" in my quote, giving an equivalent for 'whence'. Or you could regard 'whence' as equivalent to the relative expression "from which", where 'which' has the vague reference "the situation just mentioned".
Got it. Thanks
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