underplot

American  

[uhn-der-plot] / ˈʌn dərˌplɒt /

noun

1. a plot subordinate to another plot, as in a novel.

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underplot British  

/ ˈʌndəˌplɒt /

noun

1. a subsidiary plot in a literary or dramatic work

2. an undercover plot

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Etymology

Origin of underplot

First recorded in 1660–70; under- + plot

Example Sentences

The underplot in Sooky concerns Sooky's efforts to get into a juvenile club whose members wear uniforms and drill like soldiers.

From Time Magazine Archive

He and the pages form an underplot of farce, upon which Lyly improved in his later plays, bringing it also more into connexion with the main plot.

From John Lyly by Wilson, John Dover

The entire atmosphere, so to speak, of the play is stifling, and is not rendered less so by the underplot with Hippolita.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

The play, of course, has a farcical underplot which is only connected very slightly with the main story by Sir Tophas' ridiculous passion for Dipsas.

From John Lyly by Wilson, John Dover

I know that the play has its underplot of vicious poverty and crime, but they shrink from the glare of the footlights and the radiance of the red fire that lights up the scene.

From My Unknown Chum by Fairbanks, Charles Bullard