LAGOSSTATEUNI

VERSI
TY
FACULTYOFARTS
DEPARTMENTOFENGLI
SH

Se
ssi
on 2019/
2020

Cour
seCode ENG331

Cour
seTi
tl
e Cha
rac
teri
nLi
te
rat
ure

Numbe
rofUni
ts 2

Cour
seLe
ctur
e Fr
ida
y,8:
00-10a
m

La
ngua
geofI
nst
ruc
ti
on Engl
is
h

Le
ctur
ers Mr
.Ez
eki
elAJ
OSE

Phonenumbe
r: Te
l:08028828505/

Ema
il
: e
zeki
el
.a
jos
e@l
asu.
edu
.ng/e
zej
ose
2003@ya
hoo.
com

Of
fi
cehour
s: 8a
m–4
pmMonda
ytoFr
ida
y

 Cour
seDe
scr
ipt
ion

Thisc our see xami nesc ha ractera saf unda me ntalaspectoft hestudyofl i
terat
ure.No
appreci
a bles t
udyofal i
te raryt extcanbedonewi t
houtame nt
ionofc harac
ters
.Thus ,the
coursewi llint
roduc es t
ude ntst othec l
assicala ndmode rn/
reali
stnoti
onsofc hara
ctersaswe l
l
asidentifysignifi
c antdeve lopme ntsint hec onc eptofcharact
erinlit
erat
ure.Studentswillbe
int
roduc edt ot hede fini
tions ,type sandf e
a turesofc haract
era ndbea c
quaintedwi ththe
theor
izingont het opicofc ha r
a ct
e r
.Cha ract
e rstypesins e
lect
edwor kswi l
lals
obee xamined
inordert ounde rs
c orenotonl yt hetenuousli nkbe tweenpersonsinlit
erat
ureandt hoseinthe
realwor ld,butt ha tthec ompl e
x,c ontradictoryt rai
tsdonotma kef oraf inedi st
inct
ion
betweent her e
a landt heima gined.

Spe
cif
icobj
ect
ive
soft
hec
hapt
eri
ncl
ude
,amongot
her
s,t
ohe
lps
tude
nts
:

 unde
rst
andchar
act
erasanimpor
tanta
spe
ctofpr
osef
ict
ion,a
nda
stheve
ctorof
thea
cti
onsnar
rat
edint
hete
xt.

 De
vel
opt
hea
bil
it
ytoi
dent
ifyandi
dent
if
ywithcha
rac
ter
sina
nyli
te
rar
ytext
bot
hasawayofunder
sta
ndingch
arac
ter
stype
sa ndasawa yofmaki
ng
 c
onne
cti
onsbe
twe
enpe
rsonsi
nst
ori
esa
ndt
hos
einr
eall
if
e;

 Deve
lopa
na war
ene
ssofhow c
har
act
erhasevol
vedoverti
me,andle
arnne
w
de
vel
opment
sint
hefor
mat
iona
ndcons
truc
ti
onofcha
rac
teri
nfic
ti
on;

 Expl
oret
hecompl
exa ndcont
radi
ct
orytr
ait
sthatcohe
r ei
nauni f
iedpe
rsona
li
ty
ofa‘
pers
on’i
nfi
ct
ion,andrel
at
ethist
ocomplexi
tytothenat
ureofman.

Ior
dert
ome
ett
hec
our
seobj
ect
ive
s,youa
rea
ske
dto
:

 r
eadt
het
extl
is
tedi
n….be
low

 pa
rti
ci
pat
eac
ti
vel
yinc
las
sroomdi
scus
sionsa
nda
cti
vit
ie
s,e
tc.

 Cour
set e
achi
ngme t
hods:Thesema yincluder equir
edreadi
ngc ommuni
cat
edtoyouvi at he
WhatsAppplat
form orthroughface-t
o-f
aceme eti
ngswiths t
udent
s/t
heCl
assRepr
esent
a t
ive.
Ther
ea r
enoimme diater
esourc
esforPower pointsl
idess
othiswil
lnotbeus
edfordi
scus
sioni n
cl
ass
.Othermethodsincl
udein-cl
assdi
scussionsandclas
sacti
vit
ie
s .

Lec
tur
erwil
lassumetha
tyouhavereada
llthepre
scr
ibe
dtext
saswe l
lasa
nyot
herr
ele
vant
t
ext
srecommendedforthi
scour
se,a
ndthatbef
orecomingtocl
assyouha
vere
adupthese
mat
eri
al
s.

Know t
hatlec
ture
rwillnotwaitforyoutorea
dt her
ele
vantte
xtsbef
oredr
awi
ngspe
cif
ic
i
nsta
nce
sfrom there
comme nde
dt ext
sindis
cuss
ionincla
ss,moresowhenyouha
dbe en
i
nfor
medbefor
ehandt
oreadthesa
idtext
s.

Recomme ndedt
ext
swil
lbesuppl
ie
dbythelec
tur
erforst
udent
stomakecopi
es.The
se
mater
ial
sa r
efre
eofcha
rgee
xceptf
orc
harge
sforphot
ocopyi
ngwhic
hshal
lbeborneby
you(st
udents
).

Additi
onalmate
r i
al
sa reavai
lableatboththeFacul
tyli
braryandtheUniver
sit
ylibr
ar y.
Plea
se notethata ddit
ionalrelevantmateri
al
sl i
ke journalart
ic
les
,e xcer
ptsfrom
publi
shedbooksma ybema dea vai
labl
etoyoua tthedisc
reti
onofthelect
ure
r.Whe r e
neces
sary,youwi l
lbepr ovidedwithURL,t hatis
,we bsi
teswhereyouc a
nvi e
wa nd
downloadrel
evantschol
arlyj
ournalstohel
pyouunde r
sta
ndt hi
scour
se.
 Note:iti
syourres
ponsi
bil
it
yt odownloa
da ndreadtherecommendedte
xtsandother
r
elevants
econda
ryma t
eri
al
sde si
gna
tedfortheclas
spriortoat
te
ndingeachclas
s.All
ar
ti
c l
esar
ecompuls
oryrea
dingsascl
assdi
scuss
ionswil
lrevol
vear
oundthe
sere
a di
ngs.

 Ma
inCour
seCont
ent

Thema inc oursec onte

ntha sbeende s
ignedt oma keyouunde r
standt heconc eptof
cha r
act
era ndt heintri
caci
esintheconstr
uc t
ionofc ha ra
cter
sinficti
on.Al waysbe arin
mi ndthatc haract
ersinfict
ionma yappealtoyou,t ha tis
,youma ys ympa t
hisewi thor
likeacharac t
e r
,orma yseeyours
elfi
nthec hara
c t
er,thatisonl
ybe cause,unawaretoyou,
thatcharac
te rexhibit
smulti
pleorcontr
adict
oryt r
ait
st hatembodyc ompl e
xit
yint hewa y
inwhi chhe /sheisbothsimpleandcompl e
x.Youwi llalsobegivens omet i
pstha twil
l
he l
pyoua na l
yzec har
acte
rsins e
lect
edtextsa ndde terminewhethert heyarepr oper
ly
mot i
vatedornot .

Asas tude
nt,youneedtofamil
iar
iseyourse
lfwiththerol
es,r
espons
ibi
li
ti
esandcour
tes
y
expect
edofyouasastudent
.Per
adventur
eyouarenotsur
eofyourrole
sandres
pons
ibi
li
ti
es,
herearesomeke yone syoucanf amil
iar
iseyours
elfwit
hs othatthe
yc angui
deyour
behavi
ourinandout
si
deofthisc
lassroom:

 Onlyba si
cnot eswil
lbepr ovidedinc l
a s
sdur i
ngl e
c t
urea sIe xpectyoutoc ult
iva t
e
theha bitofc onducti
ngi ndependentre s
earcha ndde ve l
opi nga ninquisi
tivemi nd.
Be s
ides ,i
ti syourjobtoc ompl e
tethec oursenotesdur i
ngc l
a s
sdiscussi
on.I nt his
regard,a t
tendanceatlectures,at
tenti
ont oa ndpa rti
cipationi na l
ldiscussionsa nd
acti
vitiesarema ndat
oryforyours uccessinthiscourse.Donota s
kyourl ect
ur erwha t
youha vemi ss
edwhe nyoua bs e
ntedyour s
elffromt hec lass.Inthiscase,yous houl d
checkwi t
hyourc las
smatesa bouttheinformationpertainingt othemi s
sedc lass(e s)
.
Re me mbert hatyoua rer e
sponsiblefore verythi
ngdi s c
us seddur i
ngac lassf rom
whi c
hyoua reabsent.

 Cl
ass
eswi
lls
tar
tont
ime
,pl
eas
ear
ri
vepr
ompt
lyf
ort
hebe
ginni
ngofe
achl
ect
ure
.

 Allassi
gnment
sa r
etobehandedindur
ingcla
ssoratt
hel e
ctur
er’
sof
fi
ceinpers
on
onl
ya tati
mes ta
tedbythel
ect
urer
.Donotputyouras
signment
sinmypigeonhol
e
unl
essyouarespeci
fi
cal
lydi
rec
tedt
odos o.

 Ta r
dinessisanindi
cati
onofpoort imemanagementandor gani
sati
ona
lskil
ls
.Plea
se
reportforcla
ssont i
me.Ifforanyr eas
onyoune edtoc omel a
te,donotdis
tur
bthe
class(bequiet
)whe nyouc omein.I ft
heclas
sstart
slat
e ,i
twi l
lendlat
e.Soifyou
wa nttohavee n
oughtimetoge ttoyournextcla
ss,ple
asehelpbye nsur
ingtha
tyou
comee arlysothatt
heclas
sc a
ns t
artonti
me.
  Sma r
tphonesora nyotherPer
sonalDi
gita
lAs s
ist
ant(PDA)inc
ludi
ngpa ge
rsareto
beturnedoffduri
ngt heclas
s.Ifyouhavea nemergencyandyoumus thaveyour
devic
eont oa cceptexpect
edcommunicati
on,pleas
eus et
he‘sil
entfunct
ion’and
pl
e a
seinfor
mt helect
urerbef
orethecl
assbegi
nsotherwi
sei
twillbeta
ke nasasign
ofdisr
espec
ttothelec
turer
.

 Pleasenotethatyoua r
enote xpe ct
edt odothef oll
owi ngdur ingt helect
ure:ta
l kingt o
class
ma t
esorf ri
ends,playingc omputergame s,facebookingore nga gi
ngina nyot her
socialmediaa ct
ivit
ie
s,us i
ngt heInternet
,ordoi ngwor kforot he rcla
ssesdur ingt he
lect
ure.Thesea ct
ivit
ie
sa renota ll
owe dinthisc l
ass,a ndstudent swhomus tdot hese
areadvisednottoc omet othec las
s.Yous houlda ls
onot et
ha tthe seact
ivit
ies,be side
beingbothersomet oc la
ssma tes,ar
ea c
tsofdi sre
spe cttot hepe rs
onl e
cturi
n g.The
lect
urerwillnothesit
atetoa skyout oleavethec la
ssifyoua ref oundtobedi stur bing
thelear
ninge nvi
ronme ntinthisregard.

 Pleas
enot ethatthelecture
rwillde
liverthel ec
tur
eont heassumptionthatyouha ve
re
a dallrecomme ndedt ext
sdesi
gnatedfort hecl
ass
.Int heabsenc
eoft hi
s,youma y
fi
ndt heclassmovi ngtooquicklyande ncounterdi
ff
icultyf
ollowingthediscus
sion.
Notet ha
tle c
ture
sa r
ede si
gne
dt ogobe y ondthereadingsona ss
umpt i
onsthatyou
havedonet heneedful.Plea
secomepr epar
e d!

 Donote xpectthatyoure nquirieswillbeatt

endedtoi mme di
atel
ye s
pecia
ll
ywhe n
theyarere
ceiveda toddtime .Itisnotfai
rtoassumethatthelect
urerwil
lbea bleto
provi
deyouun dividedat
tentiona tanytimeoftheday.Pleaserespec
tthepriv
ac yof
thelec
tur
er.Ifyoua resendingar e
questtot
hele c
tur
er,ensureyouareprofes
sional
,
checkyourspel
ling,andbef rugalinyourquer
y.

 Cour
seEva
lua
tion

GNS102i
sauniver
sit
y-wi
dec our
sewhichise
xaminedonl
yonceandgr
ade
dby100%:
The
res
hal
lnotbea
ssi
gnment,pres
ent
at
ionsormid-
ter
me xa
mina
ti
on.

 Pr
opos
edCha
pte
rOve
rvi
ew(
subj
ectt
ocha
nge
)

Topi
c Le
ctur
eTopi
c Fur
the
rInf
orma
tion
No.
Topi
c1 (
i) Defining and t heor i
zing char acter:
Char acterandper son;ther ealandt he
fict
ionalandt hest or
iest hatshapeour
times;t heher
o/heroinev sant i
-her
o/anti
-heroine;theprotagonistv sant agoni
st
andt het hi
nki
ngofmor ali
ty;themimet i
c
theory

Topi
c2 (
i) Feat
ur esoft heChar act
er:plausi
bil
it
y,
compl exit
y,i.e cohesiveidenti
tyt hat
fusesmul t
ipl
eandcont r
adict
orytrait
s,
mot i
vation.

(
ii
) Typesofchar
act
er:Round,dy
nami
cvs
Fl
at,f
oil
,

Topi
c3 (
i) Charact
er, Liter
atur
e and Soci et
y:
Defi
ning t he char act
er as a
repr
esentat
ion ofboth man i
n soci
ety
andinthewor l
d

Topi
c4 (
i) Charact
erand the Cl
assi
calt
radi
ti
on:
Ari
stotl
e,Hor
ace

(
ii
) Char
acter
s and the moder
n, r
eali
st
tr
adi
ti
on:Henr
yJamesandE.
M.Forst
er

Topi
c.5 (
i) Representat
ions ofst ereot
y pes oft he
humane,t heevil
-i
ncarnate,thecr uel
,the
wicked,theinsecure,i
ndecisive,shif
ti
ng,
andf i
ckl
echar acter:Sil
asMar ner,I
ago,
Eugene,Okonkwo, Toje,Haml et,etc

Topic6 .
We e
k 7
Mod.7
Topic8
Topi
c9

 I
mpor
tantI
nfor
mat
ion

Attendance:Atte
nda nceina l
lthecl
assesforthese meste
ri sma ndatoryforyou.Wi ththe
permissi
onoft heuniversi
tya ut
hor
iti
es,youma yha vepe naltyofupt o3%de duct
edfrom
yourf i
nalma r
kf orunsubstanti
at
edabs e
nc e
sf r
omc l
ass.Yourc asewillhowe verwillbe
revi
e wedifyouha vec ogentreas
onsl i
keme di
cale mer genciesformi ss
ingac l
ass,in
whichc aseyouha vetopr oduceame dicalcer
tif
icateiss
ue dbyagove rnme nthospi
talto
just
ifyyoura bsence.Youa r
edutyboundt oinformt hel ectur
erbe f
orethec l
ass
,ori n
caseofune xpectedc i
rcums t
ances
,withinfiveda ysatt hel ate
st,ifyouha vet omi ssa
clas
s.

Alla s
signments/
ter
m-paper
sa ret o bet ur
nedi n notlaterthant hetimea l
ready
communi ca
tedtoyouwhe ntheassi
gnme ntorthete
rmpa perquest
ionswerehandedout
t
oyou .Pleas
ee ndea
vourtosubmital
lwor kortaskass
ignedtoyouont hedayindi
cated,
andthisshouldbede l
iver
edpe r
sonal
ly,onpa per
,beforethebegi
nningoft hele
cture.
MLAs t
yleshouldbeusedunle
ssother
wises t
at
ed.

LatePolicy:Assi
gnme nt
sno thandedi natthedesi
gna
tedti
mewi llbeac
cepte
dwi t
ha
penalt
yof20% pe rcale
ndarda y,beginni
ngwi t
hthedaya s
signmentwasdue,unl
ess
appropri
at
eme di
cal/
le
giti
matedoc ume nt
ati
onisprovi
ded.Thispoli
cywillbestr
ict
ly
enforce
dtoe ns
ureconsis
tenc
ya ndfairness
.

Youa r
eunderobli
gat
iontoexpl
ai
nabs
enc
efr
om a
nye
xami
nat
ion,ort
estorl
at
e
submi
ssi
onofa
ssi
gnments
,et
c.

 Uni
ver
sit
yRe
gul
ati
onsa
ndPol
ici
es

Gr
adi
ngSc
ale

Le
tte
rGr a
de Pe
rce
nti
le Gr
adePoi
nt
Remark

A 70%a
nda
bove 5 Pa
ss

B 60-
69 4 Pa
ss

C 50-
59 3 Pa
ss
 D 45-
49 2 Pa
ss

E 40-
44 1 Pa
ss

F 1-
39 0 Pa
ss

 Ac
ade
micFr
aud

LagosSat
eUniver
sit
yplace
sahighpre
miumonhone s
tyandi
ntegr
it
yofs t
udent
s’wor
ks
andtas
ksandwi l
lsanct
ionyouifyouarefoundtohaveci
rcumvent
edt hela
id-
down
proc
edur
esforpr
epar
ingassi
gne
dworkorpro
jecti
nordert
ogai
nunduea dvant
age.

De
fini
ti
on

Acade
mi cfraudi
sana ctbyas tudentwhichma yres
ulti
nfa ls
eacade
mice va
lua
tionof
t
hatstudentorofa not
herstudent.Wi t
houtlimit
ingthege ner
ali
tyofthi
sde f
init
ion,
ac
ademicf r
audocc
urswhe nastudentcommi t
sanyofthefol
lowingoff
enc
e s
:

 Pl
agi
ari
smorc
hea
ti
ngofa
nyki
nd

 Submit
sawor kofwhi
chthestude
ntisnottheauthor
,inwholeori
npart(e
xceptfor
dul
yc i
tedquotat
ionsa
ndrefer
ences
).Suchwor kma yinc
ludeanaca
demicpaper
,a n
ess
ay,atest,anexami
nat
ion,ares
earc
hr e
port,andathesi
s,whet
herwri
tt
en,oralor
inanot
herform.

 Attr
ibut
esapu
rpor
teds
tat
eme
ntoff
actorr
efe
renc
etoas
our
cewhi
chha
sbe
en
concoct
ed.

 Submit
sthesamepie
ceofwor korasignif
icantpartt
hereoff
ormoretha
nonec our
se,
orathe
sisorot
herwork,whi
chha sal
readybe ensubmitt
edels
ewherewit
houtwrit
te
n
aut
hori
zati
on ofthe lec
tur
er/
profe
ssorc oncerneda nd/orofthe acade
mic unit
 c
onc
erne
d.

 Fal
si
fi
esanaca
demice
valua
ti
on,misr
epre
sent
sanacade
mice
val
uat
ion,us
esaf
orge
d
orf
als
ifi
eda
cademi
crec
ordorsuppor
ti
vedocument
.

 Unde
rta
kesa
nyot
hera
cti
onf
ort
hepur
pos
eoff
als
ifyi
nga
nac
ade
mice
val
uat
ion.

Not
e:Thepr
ofe
ssor
/l
ect
ure
rwi
llnott
ole
rat
etheof
fenc
esl
is
teda
bove
.

 Cour
seRe
adi
ngLi
st

Note
:Whenappr
opri
at
e ,a
naddit
iona
lle
ctur
eorreadi
ngwi
llbea
ssi
gne
d.Thel
ect
ure
rwi
ll
i
nfor
myouwhent
hishappe
nspr
iort
otheweekofl
ect
ure
.

ENG331:
Char
act
eri
nLi
ter
atur
e

COURSEOUTLI
NE

1.Whati
sChar
act
er?Orputanot
herway
,Whoam I
?

(
ii
) Defi
ningandtheor
izi
ngcharact
er:Char
acterandperson;therealandthefi
cti
onal
andthestori
esthatshapeourtimes;t
heher o/
heroinev santi
-her
o/ant
i-
heroi
ne;
theprot
agoni
stvsantagoni
standt het
hinki
ngofmor al
i
ty;t
hemi metict
heory

(
ii
i) Feat
ures:plausibi
li
ty,complexi
ty,i
.ecohesiv
ei dent
it
ythatf
usesmul
ti
pleand
cont
radict
orytrait
s,motiv
ati
on,consi
stency
,plausi
bil
i
ty

(
iv) Ty
pesofchar
act
er:
Round,
dynami
cvsFl
at,
foi
l
,

(
v) Char
act
er,Li
teratureandSoci
ety
:Defi
ningt
hechar
act
erasar
epr
esent
ati
onof
bot
hmani nsocietyandi
ntheworld

(
vi) Char
act
erandt
heCl
assi
cal
tradi
ti
on:
Ari
stot
le,
Hor
ace

(
vii
) Char
act
ersandt
hemoder
n,r
eal
i
stt
radi
ti
on:
Henr
yJamesandE.
M.For
ster

Pr
imar
yText

WhatisCharact
er?Acharacteri
sapersoni nfi
cti
onwhoi sinvest
edwithsomeat tr
ibutesor
qual
it
ies.I
ndescribi
ngf
ict
ionalchar
act
ers,cert
ainat
tri
butesandtheactionsconnectedwith
them aremeasuredI t
ermsofhow r eali
sti
candplausibletheyare.Thenarrat
iveitsel
fis
unthi
nkabl
ewithoutacharacter
,fort
herecanbenoact ionwit
houtcharacterswhoenactit.As
MichaelMeyer( 2005)il
l
ustrat
es “ifst ori
es were depopul
ated,the plotwoul
d disappear
becausechar
actersandplotsareint
err
elated”(115)
.Hear guesthatcharacter
sarei
nfluenced
byeventsj
ustasev ent
sareshapedbychar act
ers.

Char actersinficti
onseem r ealtousbecauset heyconnectwi t
hourknowl edgeofr ealpeoplein
society,andt heiracti
on,mot ives,fears,andt emper amentbot hi ntriumphandi nadv ersi
tyare
plausibleandpr operl
ymot i
vatedt otheext entthatatsomemomentwemi ghtbeundert he
i
ll
usi ont hatwear edealingwithhumanbei ngs.Themet hodsbywhi chawr i
tercreatespeoplein
ast orysot hatt heyseem actuallytoexistar ecalledcharacter
ization(Mey er115) .Thisil
l
usion
ofr eali
tyhelpsust ost epout sideofourownci rcumstancesi ntot hewr i
ter
’sficti
onalwor l
d
wher eweencount erallsor tofchar actersj ustasi nrealwor ld:pauper s,mur derer
s,lovers,
saints,cheaters, mart
yrs,destr
oy er
s,and, asMey eroff
ers“somepar tofoursel
ves”(ibi
d).

Wemustal sobeari nt hatachar act eri

susual l
ybutnotal way saper son;somet i
mes, wr i
ters,f
or
reasonsbestknownt ot hem,f eatur eanimalsaschar actersintheirworks,withthest oriesnot
beingl essef fectiveormov inginef fect.Considerforexampl e,GeorgeOr wellsAni
’ malFar m and
allthati ttell
susaboutt hev il
lai
nouschar act
erofhumanbei ngs,aboutst r
uggl eforpowerand
abuseofpower ,inspi teofani mal sbeingt hechar acters.AsMey ersubmi ts,theimpor t
ant
qualifi
cat i
ont obepl acedonchar acteriswhet herornotani mal soranimat eobj ect
sar ethe
char acter,butt hatwhat everitismusthav esomer ecognizablehumanqual it
ies.Accor dingto
Mey er,wear ei nterestedint heact ionoft heplotonlybecausewecar eaboutwhathappenst o
peopl eandwhatt heydo( 116) .Whet herwei denti
fywi thachar acter’
sdesiresoraspi r
ations,or
feeldi sgustorav ersi
onwi thhi sorherv ici
ousnessandsel f
ishness,thekeyt ounder standing
ourr esponset ot hest oryist odeci pherthemet hodst heaut horusesi nconstructi
nghi sorher
char acters.

Somet imes,butnotal way s,aut horsgi vet heirchar actersnamest hatar esuggest iveoft heir
qual i
tiesornat ure;int hesameway ,lackofspeci fi
cnamesbywhi cht oident ifyachar act
ermay
signifyi ndetermi nateorl osti dentity,ormayr einf
or cer olesassi gnedorspeci fi
ct oachar acter
whol acksi ndiv i
duali denti
ty .I
ndet er mi ni
ngachar act er,l
ookoutf orot heri nformat ionsuppl i
ed
aboutt hechar act
er ,sinceoneoft hesur eway sofev al uati
ngf i
ct i
onalchar act ers,whowe
assessmucht hesamewayasweunder standpeopl einourl iv
es, i
sbypi er cingt ogetherbitsof
i
nf ormat i
ont hatcr eatesacont extt hatal lowsusi nterprett heirbehav i
our s.Mey erput sthi
si na
betterper spectivewhenhepoi ntsoutt hat“ anacquai ntancewhoi sachr oni ccompl ainerisnot
l
ikelyt ohav eany thinggoodt osayaboutar oommat e”( 118) ,suggest ingt hatwehav eclues
aboutt het ypeofachar acterjustbywhathe/ shesay sordoes.Thi si seasi erbecausewej udge
char acter sbyt heirwor dsandact ionshel pedwhatweknowaboutt hem al r
eady ,aswel lasby
whatt hechar actersay sandhowhe/ shesay sitorwhathe/ shedoesordoesnotdo.Phy sical
descr iptionsaswel laswhatot herchar acterssayaboutachar actercanal sohel pusknowt he
char acter .Mey eral sol i
stsoneadv ant agewhi chliteratureof fersinunder standingachar acter,
whi chi st hatatt imes,wehav eaccesst ot hechar acter’st houghtst or ev ealhi sorhermot i
ves
ordr ivesf ordoi ngwhathe/ shehasdone.

Accor
dingt
oMey
er(
2005)
,char
act
ersi
nfi
cti
onar
epr
esent
edi
ntwoway
s:(
i)showi
ng(
ii
)
t
ell
i
ng

I
nshowing,char
acter
sareshowni
ndr
amat
icsi
tuat
ionswher
etheyr
evealt
hemsel
vesi
ndi
rect
ly
bywhattheysayordo.(
118).

Theor
izi
ngChar
cat
er

Characteraretheli
feofli
ter
atur
e:t
heyaretheobject
sofourcuri
osi
tyandf asci
nat
ion,
aff ect
ion
anddi sl
ike,admir
ati
onandcondemnat i
on(BennethandRoyle2016,63).BennethandRoy l
e’s
descri
ptionofchar act
erabov esuggest
st hatourreadi
ngofawor k,andwhatopi nionor
j
udgmentwemakeoft hewor kisnotdivorcedfrom t
her ol
e,personali
tyandchoi cesof
characters.

Thesuccessofawor khasof tenbeent iedtotheski

llwi
thwhichthewr i
terdrawsthecharact
er,
which i
s whywe cannotdi scuss Macbet h,Ki
ng LearorOt hell
o withoutment ioni
ng t
he
eponymouschar act
ers.Mor et hantwot housandyearsago,Ari
stot
yle,i
nhiscrit
icalanal
ysi
sof
dramastatesthatcharacteris“ secondarytoplot
,thefi
rstessenti
alorsouloftragedy”,
sayi
ng
that“
charact
erareincludedonaccountoft heacti
on”

andtheiractions.Charact
erbecamepopul arearl
yinthe17th centur
y.Thechar acterhadal ong
hist
ory,i
nonef orm oranother
,inEur opeanlit
erat
ureinexempl um,al
legor
y ,fabl
e,tale,andin
the dramatic and psychologi
caldoct ri
ne ofhumouri nfluenced byHor ace’s precepts on
dramatictypes(Dict
ionaryofLit
eraryTermsandLi ter
aryTheor y126).TheinterestinChar act
er,
thedictionarysuggests,musthav ebeeni nf
ormed bythei dea,currentt hen,thatmani n
l
iter
atureistheembodi mentofuniverse(ibi
d).

InhisAdv ancementofLear ning(1605)

,Fr ancisBaconposi t
st hat“manwasmacr ocosmus,an
abstr
actormodeloft hewor l
d”.Si
rWalterRal eighi nhisHistoryoftheWor l
d( 1614)t hi
nksof
manasa“ macr ocosmos,ort heli
tt
lewor ld”seei ngbot hi nhisbodyandofal lthepar t
sthat
makei tup,ar epresentationoftheUniverse( ibid).Accordingtot hePenguinDictionary,t
hough
writ
ersandt hinkersoft heperiodwereenamour edoft hemacr ocosm/macrocosm concept ,
the
populari
tyofthe‘ character’mayalsohavebeeni nfluencedbyt hepubli
cati
onin1592ofaLat i
n
tr
anslati
onbyI saac Casaubonoft heChar actersofTheophr astusofLesbon( 371- 287BC),a
prot
otypicalwor kthathadt heEngli
shversionpubl ishedbyJohnHeal eyin1593( 126) .