Dimitra Doukas
Research Paper
An Analytical Examination at the Construct of a Character
In Relation to a Successful Fictional Narrative
Introduction:
Ever since consciousness touched the earliest homo-sapiens, human beings have been telling
stories. Whether they drew them upon cave walls, or, in their current form, burn them on silicone,
humans have a universal need to share their consciousness. Civilizations have grown and fallen,
technologies have advanced exponentially, and yet, the need to tell stories has never left us. At the
heart of all these stories, the one unifying presence that we walk away from successful novels, movies,
plays, is simply, its characters. Realistic, relatable characters are the lifeblood of a great story. The
creation of these successful characters is a subtle and difficult process, but well within the grasp of the
storyteller in all of us.
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Premise
- “No idea, and no situation, was ever strong enough to carry you through to its logical
conclusion without a clear-cut premise… You must have a premise- a premise which will
lead you unmistakably to the goal your play hopes to reach.” –Lejos Egri pg.6
1- Examples of a notable premise:
“Great love defies even death.”
From Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Its premise is clear, and it is proven by
the end of the play.
“Premise Development”
- As soon as a premise has been determined, the writer must make a choice as to who
will be best suited to telling the story, and ultimately, delivering in completion, its
premise.
1- In Romeo & Juliet, the characters themselves are written as the best suited
characters to deliver Shakespeare’s premise. Romeo and Juliet are both
slightly hopeless romantics; Romeo, scorned by love before, gives his all into
his relationship with Juliet. Juliet, who, as far as the audience can discern,
has never been in love before, falls in love with Romeo (and as with all first
loves), believes that it will last forever. In short, Shakespeare created two of
the best suited characters to fulfill his premise.
“Stereotype”
- Starting with a Stereotype, the writer can create a thin outline of what their character
should be like.
1- If the premise of their story revolves around living in the country in
Alabama, a solid characters’ stereotype could be “a farmer,” or “a smalltown girl.” It would make no sense if the stereotype was “a big-shot, big-city
lawyer.”
- The Stereotype should not define who the character is, but give an illusion to how they
appear to be.
1- Perhaps the “small-town girl” from Alabama is truly that, however, she
could be a genius when it comes to computer programming and she can
hack into any database in the nation. Her “small-town girl” stereotype does
not define her, it is merely a starting point for the writer to expand upon on
later.
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Egri’s “Physiology”
- Incorporate the character to fit the premise.
- Age, Sex, Height/Weight, Color of hair, skin, eyes, Posture, Appearance, Defects,
Hereditary (Lejos Egri pg. 36)
“Physicality”
- Incorporating Egri’s ideas of constructing the physical being of a character.
- How is the character built? How does he look like? Is he tall and well-built? Or average
and reedy-looking? The way a character looks will tell the audience the type of person
they will identify with throughout the story.
- There are two basic types of character physicality’s to be aware of; the “Underdog”
physicality (which the audience can readily relate to) and the “Projection” physicality
(which the audience sees as the Adonis of human beings and wants to be.)
- The “Underdog” vs. “Projection” qualities
1- “Underdog” Qualities
a. Perhaps the character is too-skinny to look strong, too-short to be a
threat, plain-looking enough not to be considered beautiful, walks
awkwardly, or doesn’t speak well.
b. The qualities of the “Underdog” are out of the “norm” of society.
They are ostracized for being different. The audience sees a
character like this, and can readily relate to them, because everyone
at one point in their lives has felt like they didn’t belong.
c. The audience can relate to this character and will root for them
more whole-heartedly than if they weren’t able to connect with the
character.
2- “Projection” Qualities
a. Beautiful, strong, confident, adventurous, rich- whatever it is that as
humans we want to be, the “Projection” character has.
b. The majority of the audience will connect with this character, not
because they can relate to them in a physical manner, but because
they see the qualities they want projected in this character. The
character is everything the audience wants to be, and so, will readily
connect with them.
- Some examples of “Underdog” qualities (from novels, movies and graphic novels):
1- Dev Patel’s character, Jamal, in Slumdog Millionaire. (Madhur Mittal’s
character Salim can be considered a “Projection” character.)
2- Wall-E in the film Wall-E. (Eve, as a newer, sleekly designed robot, would be
considered the “Projection” character.)
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“Emotional Manifestations of Physicality”
- The physical features of a person give insight into who they are emotionally.
- It shows how they will relate to the world (a character who is five foot one will look at
the world, move around space, and carry themselves different than a character who is
six foot five.)
- A character displaying “Underdog” physical features will have a different view of the
world than a character who is a “Projection.”
1- The “Underdog” might be shy and tend to blend into the background readily,
because all their life, people never expected much from them.
2- The “Projection” might be over-confident and laughs easily, because they were
always praised.
- The way they look doesn’t always show who a character is (the “Underdog” could be the
smartest or dumbest person, the “Projection” could be vain or humble.) What is
important is that the way a character looks is the first thing the audience will pick up onthey will want to have a picture in their mind of what the character looks like. They want
to decide within that first impression of meeting a character, who is the person they’re
being asked to invest their time and attention in.
- How a character’s biological make-up forms their psychology.
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Egri’s Sociology and Psychology/ “Defining Personality”
- Class, Education, Home Life, Occupation, Moral standards, Frustrations, complexes,
Attitudes towards life, etc. (Egri, pg. 37)
- A character’s appearance will affect how they view the world, as well as the type of
person they are.
- The experiences a character has had will affect the development of their persona.
Growing up, what kind of fears did they have (did those fears carry over into
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adulthood?) Were there two parents involved in their life? What traumatic experiences
did they go through (abuse, neglect, parent’s divorce, death of a pet, death of a loved
one, first girlfriend/boyfriend cheated on them, etc.)
A character must be a shade of grey.
1- No character can be all bad, or all good. Every human being is a delicate shade of
grey (even if they’re leaning towards bad or good.)
The character should fit the premise of the story- If one character is turning out too dark
to fit the light-hearted premise of a comedic romp, there should be a decision on
whether or not to continue to develop the character and find a story suitable for them,
or whether to find a character more in tune with the comedic elements the writer wants
to get across.
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Change
- Characters must change.
- For a realistic character, the writer must be aware that every person is in a constant
state of change“A Character stands revealed through conflict ; conflict begins with a decision; a
decision is made because of the premise of your play. The character’s decision
necessarily sets in motion another decision, from his adversary. And it is these
decisions, one resulting from the other, which propel the play to its ultimate
destination: the proving of the premise. No man ever lived who could remain
the same through a series of conflicts which affected his way of living. Of
necessity he must change, and alter his attitude toward life.”
-Lejos Egri pg. 61
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