3 character 北京外国语大学 文学概论 教学课件.pptVIP

Introduction to Literature Character and Characterization What is a character? the persons presented in works of narrative or drama who convey their personal qualities through dialogue and action by which the reader or audience understands their thoughts, feelings, intentions and motives. Usually a human being Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye Louise in “The Story of an Hour” Michael and Frances in “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses” Sometimes an animal or inanimate thing attributed with human qualities Pinocchio, an animated marionette in The Adventures of Pinocchio Monkey King in Journey to the West Buck, a dog in Jack London’s Call of the Wild Buck His father, Elmo, a huge St. Bernard, had been the Judge’s inseparable companion, and Buck bid fair to follow in the way of his father. He was not so large--he weighed only one hundred and forty pounds--for his mother, She, had been a Scotch shepherd dog. Nevertheless, one hundred and forty pounds, to which was added the dignity that comes of good living and universal respect, enabled him to carry himself in right royal fashion. During the four years since his puppyhood he had lived the life of a sated aristocrat; he had a fine pride in himself, was even a trifle egotistical, as country gentlemen sometimes become because of their insular situation. But he had saved himself by not becoming a mere pampered house dog. Hunting and kindred outdoor delights had kept down the fat and hardened his muscles; and to him, as to the cold-tubbing races, the love of water had been a tonic and a health preserver. Protagonist and antagonist Protagonist: the major, central character Antagonist: the principal character in opposition to the protagonist of a narrative or drama Protagonist and antagonist refer to characters without moral judgment, but endowed with a complex mixture of positive and negative qualities Hero, heroine and villain are terms with moral judgment. Round character and flat character terms first used by E.