Character

Character

1. Protagonist

   • FOIL
     • a character that the author includes in order to point out main points of another character (typically the protagonist)
       • Act 5, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's Hamlet, "I'll be your foil, Laertes: in mine ignorance/ Your skill shall, like a star 'i the darkest night, Stick fiery off indeed")
   • i.e., main character

2. Antagonist

   • adversary of the protagonist
     • can be a person, the environment, an institution, an ideal, etc.

3. How much of the character is revealed to the audience?

   • a lot
     • the character is "round"
   • not much
     • the character is "flat"

4. Does the character change over the course of the story?

   • yes
     • the character is "dynamic"
   • no
     • the character is "static"

5. miscellaneous terms

   • antihero
     • ordinary, inglorious citizen of the modern world
       • typically has negative traits that we, as readers, struggle to accept
   • verisimilitude
     • reality vs probability
       • The appearance of being real. Therefore, determine what characters may possibly do and what they most frequently do.
   • stock character
     • characters who appear in repeating situations (i.e., insensitive father, interfering mother, greedy political, nagging wife, lovable drunk, etc)