coincidence

is associated with an element of surprise or astonishment that derives from the lack of apparent causal connection.

But coincidence in its common and most important literary use carried with it an element of surprise or astonishment that derives from the lack of apparent causal connection . . . [C]oincidence is not necessarily a failure in realism or (as is sometimes implied) a cheap way out of difficulties in plot and structure though of course it can be both in a bad novel. Instead, coincidence is a symbol of providence' (Vargish 1985, 7, 9).

is merely the concurrence or juxtaposition in time and space of two or more events or circumstances.

Vargish defines 'coincidence in its basic meaning merely the concurrence or juxtaposition in time and space of two or more events or circumstances' (1985, 7)

VargishThinkers

Vargish