Week 3

CHARACTERISATION

Who is a character in Drama?

A character is a person, animal, being, creature, or thing in a play. The character

may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person. Play directors use
characters to perform the actions and speak dialogue.

Types of Characters

The two main types of characters in Drama are :

1) Protagonist – the character whom the reader empathizes with

2) Antagonist – the character that goes against the main character (who is
usually the protagonist).                                                                                                    

Other types of characters are: dynamic, static, round, flat, and stock.

What is Characterization?

Characterization is the act of creating and describing characters in drama. The

act of changing voice, body language, movement, gesture etc when in role is
called characterization.

Characterization includes descriptions of a character’s physical attributes as well

as the character’s personality. 

In a play a character’s personality can be revealed in several ways:

 How the character looks

 What the character says
 How the character behaves
 What other characters say about him/her
 What the character thinks

Types of Characterization
A playwright can use two approaches to deliver information about a character
and build an image of it. These two types of characterization include:

Direct or explicit characterization

This kind of characterization takes a direct approach towards building the

character.  It uses another character, narrator, or the protagonist himself to tell
the readers or audience about the subject.

Indirect or implicit characterization

This is a more subtle way of introducing the character to the audience.  The
audience has to deduce for themselves the characteristics of the character by
observing his/her thought process, behavior, speech, way of talking, appearance,
and manner of communication with other characters, as well as by discerning the
response of other characters.

WHAT IS CHARACTER MOTIVATION?

A character’s motivation is what drives them or what they would like to achieve.
For example, a character may behave in a childish or argumentative way but
their overall motivation is to be noticed and get attention.

Other motivations can relate to survival needs, psychological, love, professional

achievement etc.