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Character (arts)
The word character originates from the Ancient Greek term charaktēr, which referred to the stamp or mark impressed upon a coin, signifying ownership and identity. By the time of the Restoration in the 17th century, this term had evolved to describe the chief person in a tragedy, as John Dryden noted in his 1679 preface to Troilus and Cressida, arguing that a hero must possess more virtue than vice. Before this linguistic shift, the concept of a dramatic person was encapsulated by the Latin phrase dramatis personae, meaning masks of the drama, which highlighted the literal aspect of actors wearing physical masks to portray different roles. The transition from these physical masks to the psychological illusion of being a human person marked a fundamental change in how audiences understood the people on stage. This evolution became widely popular only after the publication of Henry Fielding's Tom Jones in 1749, which cemented the term in the English language as a way to describe a part played by an actor or a person portrayed in a novel. The phrase in character, used to describe an effective impersonation, did not enter common usage until the end of the 18th century, signaling a new era where the internal life of a fictional being became as important as the external action they performed.
Archetypes and Stock Roles
Authors have long relied on the basic character archetypes common to many cultural traditions, such as the father figure, mother figure, and hero, to construct their narratives. Carl Jung's psychological systems provided a framework for these traits, often dictating the expectations of the storyline itself. While stock characters are generally flat and used for supporting or minor roles, some writers have used them as a starting point to build richly detailed figures, such as William Shakespeare's transformation of the boastful soldier into the complex character of John Falstaff. The creation of charactonyms, names that imply the psychological makeup or appearance of a person, adds another layer to this tradition. Shakespeare gave an emotional young male character the name Mercutio, while John Steinbeck named a kind, sweet character Candy in Of Mice and Men. Mervyn Peake created a Machiavellian, manipulative, and murderous villain named Steerpike, and François Rabelais named a giant Gargantua, while the huge whale in the 1940 film Pinocchio is named Monstro. These names serve as immediate signals to the audience about the nature of the being they are about to encounter, bridging the gap between the abstract idea of a character and the concrete reality of the story.
The Round and The Flat
E. M. Forster defined two basic types of characters in his book Aspects of the Novel: flat characters and round characters. Flat characters are two-dimensional and relatively uncomplicated, often serving as one-dimensional and thin figures that do not undergo significant development. In contrast, round characters are complex figures with many different characteristics that undergo development, sometimes sufficiently to surprise the reader. In psychological terms, round or complex characters may be considered to have five personality dimensions under the Big Five model of personality, including extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. Mary Sues are characters that usually appear in fan fiction which are virtually devoid of flaws and are therefore considered flat characters, while a walk-on is a term used by Seymour Chatman for characters that are not fully delineated and individualized. These walk-ons are part of the background or the setting of the narrative, existing to create a piece of drama and then disappear without consequences to the narrative structure, unlike core characters for which any significant conflict must be traced during a considerable time.
The word character originates from the Ancient Greek term charaktēr, which referred to the stamp or mark impressed upon a coin, signifying ownership and identity. By the time of the Restoration in the 17th century, this term had evolved to describe the chief person in a tragedy. The transition from physical masks to the psychological illusion of being a human person marked a fundamental change in how audiences understood the people on stage.
How did Henry Fielding influence the definition of character in English literature?
The concept of character became widely popular only after the publication of Henry Fielding's Tom Jones in 1749. This work cemented the term in the English language as a way to describe a part played by an actor or a person portrayed in a novel. The phrase in character, used to describe an effective impersonation, did not enter common usage until the end of the 18th century.
What is the difference between flat and round characters according to E. M. Forster?
E. M. Forster defined flat characters as two-dimensional and relatively uncomplicated figures that do not undergo significant development. In contrast, round characters are complex figures with many different characteristics that undergo development, sometimes sufficiently to surprise the reader. Mary Sues are characters that usually appear in fan fiction which are virtually devoid of flaws and are therefore considered flat characters.
Who defined dynamic and static characters in literature?
Dynamic characters are those that change over the course of the story, while static characters remain the same throughout the narrative. An example of a popular dynamic character in literature is Ebenezer Scrooge, the protagonist of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. At the start of the story, he is a bitter miser, but by the end of the tale, he transforms into a kindhearted, generous man.
What did Aristotle say about character in Poetics?
In the earliest surviving work of dramatic theory, Poetics, the Classical Greek philosopher Aristotle states that character, or ethos, is one of six qualitative parts of Athenian tragedy. He defines character not to denote a fictional person, but the quality of the person acting in the story and reacting to its situations. Aristotle argues for the primacy of plot, or mythos, over character, stating that without action, a tragedy cannot exist, but without characters, it may.
Dynamic characters are those that change over the course of the story, while static characters remain the same throughout the narrative. An example of a popular dynamic character in literature is Ebenezer Scrooge, the protagonist of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. At the start of the story, he is a bitter miser, but by the end of the tale, he transforms into a kindhearted, generous man. This transformation is the engine that drives the emotional core of many stories, distinguishing them from those where the protagonist remains unchanged. In television, the distinction between regular, recurring, and guest characters further complicates this dynamic. A regular, main, or ongoing character appears in all or a majority of episodes, while a recurring character or supporting character often and frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. A guest or minor character acts only in a few episodes or scenes, and unlike regular characters, they do not need to be carefully incorporated into the storyline with all its ramifications. Sometimes a guest or minor character may gain unanticipated popularity and turn into a regular or main one, a phenomenon known as a breakout character.
Aristotle's Primacy of Plot
In the earliest surviving work of dramatic theory, Poetics, the Classical Greek philosopher Aristotle states that character, or ethos, is one of six qualitative parts of Athenian tragedy and one of the three objects that it represents. He defines character not to denote a fictional person, but the quality of the person acting in the story and reacting to its situations. Aristotle argues for the primacy of plot, or mythos, over character, stating that without action, a tragedy cannot exist, but without characters, it may. He writes that the tragedies of most recent poets lack character, and in general, there are many such poets. Aristotle suggests that works were distinguished in the first instance according to the nature of the person who created them, with grander people representing fine actions and ordinary people representing those of inferior ones. This distinction arises from two causes that are natural and common to all humans: the delight taken in experiencing representations and the way in which we learn through imitation. On this basis, a distinction between the individuals represented in tragedy and in comedy arose, with tragedy representing serious people and comedy representing people who are rather inferior.
The Network of Oppositions
The study of a character requires an analysis of its relations with all of the other characters in the work. The individual status of a character is defined through the network of oppositions, including proairetic, pragmatic, linguistic, and proxemic elements, that it forms with the other characters. The relation between characters and the action of the story shifts historically, often miming shifts in society and its ideas about human individuality, self-determination, and the social order. A character who stands as a representative of a particular class or group of people is known as a type, and these types include both stock characters and those that are more fully individualized. The characters in Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play and August Strindberg's Miss Julie from 1888 are representative of specific positions in the social relations of class and gender, such that the conflicts between the characters reveal ideological conflicts. This network of relationships ensures that no character exists in a vacuum, but rather is constantly defined by their interactions and the tensions they generate within the narrative structure.
From Imagination to Reality
In fiction writing, authors create dynamic characters using various methods, sometimes conjuring them up from imagination and in other instances creating them by amplifying the character trait of a real person into a new fictional creation. An author or creator basing a character on a real person can use a person they know, a historical figure, a current figure whom they have not met, or themselves, with the latter being either an author-surrogate or an example of self-insertion. The use of a famous person easily identifiable with certain character traits as the base for a principal character is a feature of allegorical works, such as Animal Farm by George Orwell, which portrays Soviet revolutionaries as pigs. Other authors, especially for historical fiction, make use of real people and create fictional stories revolving around their lives, as with The Paris Wife which revolves around Ernest Hemingway. This process of blending the real and the fictional allows for a deeper exploration of human nature, as the author can draw upon the known history of a real person to ground the imaginary elements of the story in a recognizable reality.