Characterisation is the process of conveying
informationInformation as a concept has many meanings, from everyday usage to technical settings. The concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern, perception, and representation.The English...
about
charactersA character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
in
narrativeA narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events...
or
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
tic
works of artThe arts is a broad subdivision of culture, composed of many expressive disciplines. It is a broader term than "art", which as a description of a field usually means only the visual arts...
or everyday
conversationA conversation is communication between multiple people. It is a social skill that is not difficult for most individuals. Conversations are the ideal form of communication in some respects, since they allow people with different views on a topic to learn from each other...
. Characters may be presented by means of description, through their actions, speech, or thoughts.
A
well-developed character is one that has been thoroughly characterised, with many traits shown in the
narrativeA narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events...
. The better the audience knows the character, the better the character development.
Characterisation is the process of conveying
informationInformation as a concept has many meanings, from everyday usage to technical settings. The concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern, perception, and representation.The English...
about
charactersA character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
in
narrativeA narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events...
or
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
tic
works of artThe arts is a broad subdivision of culture, composed of many expressive disciplines. It is a broader term than "art", which as a description of a field usually means only the visual arts...
or everyday
conversationA conversation is communication between multiple people. It is a social skill that is not difficult for most individuals. Conversations are the ideal form of communication in some respects, since they allow people with different views on a topic to learn from each other...
. Characters may be presented by means of description, through their actions, speech, or thoughts.
Character development
A
well-developed character is one that has been thoroughly characterised, with many traits shown in the
narrativeA narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events...
. The better the audience knows the character, the better the character development. Thorough characterisation makes characters well-rounded and complex. This allows for a sense of
realismRealism in the visual arts and literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation...
. As an example, according to F.R. Leavis,
Leo TolstoyLeo Tolstoy, or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy , was a Russian writer widely regarded as among the greatest of novelists. His masterpieces War and Peace and Anna Karenina represent in their scope, breadth and vivid depiction of 19th-century Russian life and attitudes, the peak of realist...
was the creator of some of the most complex and psychologically believable characters in fiction.
In contrast, an
underdeveloped character is considered flat or
stereotypicalA stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups, or types of individuals.The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings. Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups, based on some prior...
.
Character development is very important in
character-driven literature, where stories focus not on events, but on individual personalities. Classic examples include
War and PeaceWar and Peace , a Russian novel by Leo Tolstoy, is considered one of the world's greatest works of fiction. It is regarded, along with Anna Karenina , as his finest literary achievement....
or
David CopperfieldDavid Copperfield or The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850...
. In a
tragedyTragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that, paradoxically, offers its audience pleasure...
, the central character generally remains fixed with whatever character flaw (
hamartiaHamartia is a term developed by Aristotle in his work Poetics. The term can simply be seen as a character’s flaw or error. The word hamartia is rooted in the notion of missing the mark and covers a broad spectrum that includes accident and mistake, as well as wrongdoing, error, or sin....
) seals his fate; in a
comedyComedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece...
the central characters typically undergo some kind of
epiphanyEpiphany may refer to:* Epiphany , a Christian holiday on January 6 celebrating the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus* Epiphany , the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something...
(sudden realization) whereupon they adjust their erratic beliefs and practices, and avert a tragic fate. Historically, stories and plays focusing on characters became common as part of the 19th century Romantic movement, and character-driven literature rapidly supplanted more
plot-driven literature that typically utilizes easily identifiable
archetypeAn archetype is an original model of a person, ideal example, or a prototype after which others are copied, patterned, or emulated; a symbol universally recognized by all...
s rather than proper character development.
Characterisation in drama
In performance an
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
has less time to characterise and so can risk the character coming across as underdeveloped. The great
realistsRealism in the visual arts and literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation...
of
dramaturgyDramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. Some dramatists combine writing and dramaturgy when creating a drama. Others work with a specialist, called a dramaturg, to adapt a work for the stage.Dramaturgy may also be defined,...
have relied heavily on implicit characterisation which occupy the main body of their character driven plays. Examples of these
playwrightA playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works are usually written to be performed in front of a live audience by actors...
s are
Henrik IbsenHenrik Johan Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as the "father of modern drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre. His plays were considered scandalous to many of his era, when Victorian values of family...
,
August StrindbergJohan August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg ( (22 January 1849 – 14 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright and writer. He is arguably the most influential of all Swedish authors, and one of the most influential Scandinavian authors, along with Knut Hamsun, with whom he...
and
Anton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian short-story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
. Such psychological epics as
The SeagullThe Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
indirectly characterise the
protagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, video game, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to share the most empathy...
s so that the
audienceAn audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
is drawn into their inner turmoils as they are slowly revealed over the three hours of time spent with the characters. The
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s taking on these
roleA role or a social role is a set of connected behaviors, rights and obligations as conceptualized by actors in a social situation. It is an expected behavior in a given individual social status and social position...
s must also characterise over a long period of time, to the point that there seems to be no direct statement of who the
characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
is at any point, this
realismRealism in the visual arts and literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation...
in
actingActing is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play...
requires the actor to characterise from their own
personaA persona, in the word everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. This is an Italian word that derives from the Latin for "mask" or "character", derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning...
as a starting point. The audience therefore does not recognize a realistic characterisation immediately.
However the
playwrightA playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works are usually written to be performed in front of a live audience by actors...
and actor also have the choice of indirect
characterisation in a similar vein to the writer in literature. The presentation of a character for a
sociologicalSociology is the scientific or systematic study of human societies. It is a branch of social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social structure and activity, often with the goal of applying such...
discussion only has to be as real as the discussion requires. In this way a character can be used as an
iconicA secular icon is an image or pictograph of a person or thing used for other than religious purpose. -Icons versus symbols:...
reference by a
playwrightA playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works are usually written to be performed in front of a live audience by actors...
to suggest location, an
epochIn the fields of chronology and periodization, an epoch means an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular era. The "epoch" then serves as a reference point from which time is measured...
in history, or even draw in a
politicalPolitics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions...
debate. The inclusion of a
stock characterA stock character is a stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes, but they are often more narrowly defined...
, or in literary terms an
archetypalAn archetype is an original model of a person, ideal example, or a prototype after which others are copied, patterned, or emulated; a symbol universally recognized by all...
character, by a
playwrightA playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works are usually written to be performed in front of a live audience by actors...
can risk drawing overly simplistic pictures of people and smack of
stereotypingA stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups, or types of individuals.The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings. Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups, based on some prior...
however the degree of success in direct characterisation in order to swiftly get to the action varies from play to play and often according to the use the character is put to. In explicitly characterising a certain character the actor makes a similar gamble. The choice of what aspects of a character are
demonstrated by the actor to directly characterise is a political choice and makes a statement as to the ethics and agenda of the actor and
mimeA mime most frequently refers to a mime artist who uses a theatrical medium or performance art involving the acting out of a story through body motions without use of speech...
especially, and in epic theatre.
External links
- Outline on Literary Elements by Dr. Marilyn H. Stauffer of the University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, and is a public research university located in Tampa, Florida, USA, with an autonomous campus in St. Petersburg, and branch centers in Sarasota and Lakeland...
- Lecture about Fiction by Professor Waters of the Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was formally founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier....
, especially the accompanying PowerPoint presentation
- Character and characterisation in The UVic Writer's Guide (from the University of Victoria
The University of Victoria is the second oldest degree granting university in British Columbia. This medium-sized university is located in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada with an enrollment figure of more than 19,000 students. The campus is famous for its prestige, beautiful gardens...
)
- Drama Theory
- 15 Days to Stronger Characters
- Characterisation thesaurus for writers