Character

Definition of Character

With a few rare exceptions, plays revolve around the actions of their CHARACTERS, the people whose stories are being told. Put simply, a character is any person portrayed by an actor in the drama, although sometimes characters are referred to but never seen on stage.

Playwrights have access to a number of different kinds of characters, and they develop those characters as fully or as sketchily as the needs of the play demand. The main character of a play - the hero or the person the audience is meant to identify with - is the protagonist. In almost every case the story revolves around the protagonist: He or she generates the plot and embodies the play's theme. The primary source of opposition or conflict with the protagonist is the antagonist, who is often but not always a villain. Be aware that it's not always easy to identify the antagonist and the protagonist; in fact, many playwrights deliberately confuse the issue to force their audience to question the motivations and behaviors of their characters.

Because the story usually focuses on them, the antagonist and protagonist are almost always rounded characters. That is, they are fully developed and the audience gets a keen sense of who they are as people. Rounded characters have identifiable personalities, attitudes, desires, motivations, traits, and flaws. The audience's understanding of a rounded character might change as a play progresses; indeed, rounded characters' understandings of themselves and the other characters will usually develop and change through the course of the action.

At least some supporting characters in a play might be rounded as well, but a playwright can also include flat characters whose personalities are probed in considerably less depth. In some cases, a play's cast might also include a few stock characters, or stereotypical types, whose presence helps to move the plot forward and who might embody certain universal principals but whose desires and personalities are not important to the development of the story. (A few examples of stock characters you're probably already familiar with include the hooker with a heart of gold, the selfless mother, or the lovable fool.) Don't be tempted to think of the presence of flat and stock characters in a play as a weakness: On the contrary, these character types focus the audience's attention on the more central personas of the story. And besides, if every character in a large cast were rounded, the show might never end!

The process of developing characters is called characterization. Playwrights use a number of strategies to establish who their characters are. Most often, character is revealed through dialogue and action, either the character's own or that of other characters in the play. Gender, race, and class also figure prominently in defining characters; they might be portrayed through costume, dialect, or how they interact with other characters.

Effective use of character is central to any good play. Indeed, some plays focus more on studying their characters than on plot development, although both may be present in the work.

protagonist: A story’s main character (see also antagonist)

antagonist: The character or force in conflict with the protagonist (see also protagonist)

round character: A complex, fully developed character, often prone to change

flat character: A one-dimensional character, typically not central to the story

stock character: A stereotypical or symbolic character already familiar to audiences

characterization: The process by which an author presents and develops a fictional character

Character Exercise

Shakespeare's Othello is a tale of jealousy and revenge. Although there are other significant characters in the play, the story centers on the Moorish general Othello, his new wife Desdemona, and his courtier Iago, who bitterly resents Othello for passing him over for a promotion. Iago's complicated scheme for revenge centers on convincing Othello that his bride is unfaithful, which, through a series of deceptions, he succeeds in doing. Enraged at the thought of his wife's infidelity, Othello smothers her to death before discovering that Iago has tricked him. Before he stabs himself in despair, Othello delivers the following soliloquy directly to the audience:

Soft you; a word or two before you go.

I have done the state some service, and they know't.

No more of that. I pray you, in your letters,

When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,

Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,

Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak

Of one that loved not wisely but too well;

Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought

Perplex'd in the extreme; of one whose hand,

Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away

Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued eyes,

Albeit unused to the melting mood,

Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees

Their medicinal gum. Set you down this;

And say besides, that in Aleppo once,

Where a malignant and a turban'd Turk

Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,

I took by the throat the circumcised dog,

And smote him, thus.

INSTRUCTIONS

Select three of the character traits below that accurately describe Othello. Be sure to base your choices on clues provided by this passage. Write those traits in the textbox below and explain how they are conveyed in the text.

angry

careful

cheerful

dishonest

emotional

evil

good-hearted

gullible

honest

hypochondriac

jealous

impulsive

intellectual

introspective

lucky

malicious

masculine

moody

patriotic

perplexed

powerful

proud

prudent

religious

remorseful

reserved

romantic

silly

strong

stubborn

suicidal

suspicious

treasonous

unwise

vain

vengeful

violent

wasteful

weak

wealthy

Question

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