Types of Characters

Types of Characters:

There are different types of characters in drama. They include the protagonist, the dynamic character,, the static character, the flat character, the round character, and stereotypes.

Protagonist/Hero:

He is the main character and at the centre of the story. He is called the protagonist or the hero. If he is pitted against an important character, like in Hamlet, the opponent is called an antagonist. In the play, Hamlet is the protagonist while King Claudius is the antagonist and the relationship between them is what we refer to as conflict. Usually the story revolves around him and in fact the story is about him. He is easily identifiable because he stands out over and above most other characters. Everything revolves around him as he influences (he action that he is going through. He creates a world for himself which could be big or small, palatable or detestable. He lives to sustain or oppose what happens to him. His role is usually central to the development of the .theme, .and whatever happens .to him or whatever he .does has much significance to the outcome of the story. He is often referred to as the hero of the story or the protagonist and he is one of the major characters. His central position in the story places him in a very important position. The playwright therefore portrays him carefully. His many - sided and complex nature is presented in details. He helps to inject life in the story when he is properly presented. In Oedipus Rex, for instance, King Oedipus is the protagonist. He is not just one of the major characters but he is the major character. The story that is told in the play is about the birth, the rise and the fall of King Oedipus. Sophocles uses him to show his audience that man is helpless before the gods.

This means that a man cannot change his destiny no matter how hard he or the people around him. In the case of King Oedipus, his parents try to change his destiny by ordering, when he was bom and they discovered that he has been doomed to kill his father and marry his mother, that he be thrown into the forest where he was expected to die but the servant spared his life and offered him to the shepherd. As he grows, he tries to change that fate but does not succeed. Instead he moves closer to it and eventually fulfils it.

Dynamic/ Round Character:

This is a character that changes according to the course of events in the story. He may or may not be the protagonist or the hero. In most cases, he grows from innocence to maturity or from ignorance to knowledge, so he is consistently alert to his environment with its attendant problem and reacts accordingly. He is found almost everywhere in the story. In his own unique way, he participates actively as much as possible in the course of the action. He seems to have no special alignment to any group but tries not to lose his credibility or acceptability.

Static/Flat/Stock Character:

Here the character is complex and does not change in any basic way in the course of the story. He is presented in outline and without much individualization. He is usually stable and is said to be static because he retains essentially the same outlook, attitudes, values and dispositions from the beginning of the story to the end of the story. He is the opposite of the round character but lakes complexity in term of presentation. He is presented with a few and broad strokes. In most cases his activities are easily recognizable, so, his actions can be predicted. Such values and attitudes may be positive m negative depending m the playwright’s intention. He can be a minor or major character as long as he is hardly transformed as the events of the story unfold. Stock characters are character types “that recur repeatedly... (Abram 163) in dramatic composition “and so are recognizable as part of the conventions of the form.”

-Character types -are -created -by playwrights -to -represent particular -individuals- -in the society. They could be professionals, ethnic groups, tribes or nationalities. They therefore act and behave in accordance with the dictates of the person(s) they represent.