Characters: in drama, they are the people in the play.

The number of characters, which in

the past were called Drámatis Personae, may vary but always include:
• a hero;
• a heroine;
• in the tragedies, a villain who does all sorts of evil actions.
Characters can be divided into main or minor according to how important they are for the
story.
In fiction, they are the people who appear in a novel.
They represent the most important ingredient in the world of fiction. The presentation of a
character can be
'direct' (through what the writer tells the reader of his/her personality and appearance) or
'indirect' (when the reader has to infer the features of the character from his/her interaction
with other characters, feelings and thoughts).
The two methods of presentation are often mixed by authors in order to create portraits that
are realistic but also provide psychological insight into the inner life of the characters.
Depending on their role in the story there can be 'major' and 'minor' characters. A further
distinction can be made between 'round' and 'flat' characters.

Dialogue: coversation between two or more people in a book or play. The dialogue is the
main support of drama since:
•it creates the action;
• it provides details about the characters and their relationships;
• it shows what a character thinks about another;
• it gives information about the past and can foreshadow subsequent events.
Dialogue can have a similar function in novels.

Eighteenth-century novel: the novel came to prominence in the 18th century. Novels of the
period, though different, shared the following features:
•Events were usually narrated in chronological sequence.
•Narration was in the 1st person or the 3rd person.
The setting was given great attention, with specific references to names of countries, streets
and towns.
References were made to particular times of the year or
of the day.
All the characters were given contemporary names and surnames to reinforce the
impression of realism, and they struggled either for survival or for social success.
The hero of the novel was always the 'bourgeois man', with his problems. He was generally
the mouthpiece of his author and the reader was expected to sympathise with him.
The language was simple and factual.

External narrator: a narrator that is a voice outside of the story

who tells of events he has not taken part in

Unobtrusive narrator: an omniscient third-person narrator who shows what happens but
does not interfere with the story - he acts like a camera.
First-person narrator: when a story is recounted in the 'I'
mode. In fiction, it can coincide with a character in the story or the protagonist who tells
about his life. The choice of this narrator can have the following functions:
• to bring the reader close to the mind and feelings of the narrator;
•to convey an impression of reality;
• to restrict the reader's perspective.

Flat characters: also called 'types' or 'caricatures', are built around a single psychological
trait or quality. They are easy to recognise and do not develop throughout the story, even if
they experience different relationships and situations.
This does not mean they are always artistically inferior to round characters'. As a matter of
fact, the author can use them to create a particular atmosphere inside a complex narrative
frame. They can be easily presented in a few sentences.
She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When
she was discontented she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her
daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.

irony: a manner typically used to add humour or emphasis.

When irony is used as a literary tool, what is said is not a direct, open attack on the subject.
The ironist wishes to surprise the reader; he/she does not want to change or reform, but
simply to create awareness in the reader.
There are three kinds of irony.
1. Verbal irony, in which the writer says one thing and means something completely different.
An example of verbal irony in be found in The Wife of Bath' from The Canterbury Tales by
Geoffrey Chaucer.
In all the parish not a dame dared stir
Towards the altar steps in front of her, And if indeed they did, so wrath was she As to be
quite put out of charity.
2. Dramatic irony, in which the reader or the audience perceives something which a
character does not know. An example of dramatic irony can be found in Macbeth, Act 1,
Scene 6, in which Duncan visits Macbeth's castle where later he will be murdered.
Duncan: This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
3. Situational irony, in which a discrepancy between the expected results of a situation and
its actual results is shown. An example of situational irony can be found in Gulliver's Travels,
where there is a discrepancy between the Lilliputians' description of the objects they find on
Gulliver's body and what they actually find.

Obtrusive narrator: the omniscient third-person narrator when he addresses the reader
directly by making personal remarks and digressions or by providing a comment on the
society of the time or on some of the characters. The obtrusive narrator takes away the
realistic illusion and reduces the emotional intensity of what is being told by focusing on the
act of narrating.

Plot: the story; the main events of a play or novel. The sequence of events does not always
have to be presented in chronological order. The author can combine these events in
different ways using flashbacks, anticipation of events or by omitting details of the story.
Narrator: an essential element of a narrative text; the speaking voice. The narrator is not the
author of a book (the author is a real person, with his own experiences, personality and
ideas). The narrator is the voice who tells the story and gives the point of view from which
the story is told. The narrator can be 'internal' or 'external', 'first-person' or third-person'
Novel: a long fictitious prose narrative which usually maintains a certain level of realism. It is
the most common form of fiction as a genre. It emerged in its modern form in 18th-century
Europe.
The main features of the novel include:
• It is fictitious (fiction comes from the Latin word fingere)
• It tells about imaginary events and characters.
• It is in some sense 'representative of real life', since it can bear an important resemblance
to reality.
• It is written in prose, rather than verse, even if it can include very poetic elements as far as
its language is concerned.
•It has a narrative: in other words it is a 'telling'.
• It has characters, actions and a plot.
• It involves people who act in a context ruled by some sort of connective logic (chronology,
cause-and-effect).
• It involves the investigation of an issue of human importance whose complexity requires a
certain length.

Point of view: the angle(s) from which the scene in a narrative text is described and the
story is told. It is influenced by the kind of narrator. The point of view does not simply refer to
the description or perception of facts and events, but also to their interpretation. Narrative
voice and point of view do not always coincide. The narrative voice belongs to the person
who is speaking, be it an internal or an external narrator. The point of view regards the
person who, inside the story, sees the facts, thinks and judges. It may vary more often than
the narrative voice.
The point of view can be:
1. fixed and therefore restricted;
2. shifting from the narrator's to the character's, or from one character's to another's.

Round characters: characters which pass through the crucial events of the story, and are
remembered by the reader in connection with those scenes. Their personality is modified by
experience, and they are likely to influence the development of the story. They are fit to
surprise the reader in a convincing way. They bring the variety of real life into the novel.
They are more complex than flat characters and have more than one facet, like human
beings. An example of a round character is Elizabeth Bennet, in Jane Austen's Pride and
Prejudice, when she realises she has been prejudiced towards Mr Darcy:
I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were
concerned. Till this moment, I never knew myself.