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In a nutshell:
In a nutshell:
FUNCTION: What is their role in the play? E.g., protagonist, narrator, antagonist, ensemble
PURPOSE: Why are they in the play? E.g.: to educate, entertain, to challenge, to evoke pity
Character Types by Role
Character role refers to the part that one plays in the story. As you probably know, the most important role in any story is the protagonist. This means all other roles stem from their relationship to the protagonist. Basically, these types define how characters interact and affect one another.
Protagonist
The protagonist is likely a pretty familiar concept for most of us: this is the main character, the star of the show, whose purpose is to drive the action in the narrative. For example, in Macbeth (An Undoing), the function of the character Lady Macbeth is to be the protagonist. The purpose of this character is to disrupt the traditional narrative of Shakespeare's Macbeth, and to tell 'untold stories'. Protagonists are the characters we’re meant to care about the most. Every single story has to have a protagonist, no matter what. Simply put, no protagonist = no plot.
Antagonist
If you’re an antagonist, you antagonize — it’s what you do. Specifically, you undermine, thwart, battle, or otherwise oppose one character: the protagonist.
Most of the time, the protagonist is good and the antagonist is evil, and such is the source of their conflict. This isn’t always the case — especially if the protagonist is an anti-hero who lacks typical heroic attributes, or the antagonist is an anti-villain who has noble characteristics. Antagonists usually play just as important a role in a story as their protagonistic counterparts, but they may not be seen as much. The purpose of an antagonist is to complicate the protagonist's journey. The question of “What will the antagonist do next?” can be a source of great narrative tension in a story. Wad their a single antagonist in Macbeth (An Undoing)? Many of the male characters could be seen as antagonists at times, however the weird sisters also 'complicated' Lady Macbeth's journey. What about the audience? Were we positioned as antagonists in this metatheatrical version?
Deuteragonist
Most stories have a primary protagonist and a secondary deuteragonist (or group of deuteragonists). This is the character who’s not exactly in the spotlight, but pretty close to it.
The deuteragonist’s comic book equivalent would probably be the sidekick. They’re often seen in the company of the protagonist — giving advice, plotting against their rivals, and generally lending a helping hand. Their presence and close relationship to the protagonist gives the story warmth and heart, so it’s not just about the hero’s journey, but about the friends they make along the way (awww). Of course, not all secondary figures are friends — some are arch-enemies — but even these less-friendly deuteragonists still lend depth to a story.
Tertiary characters
Tertiary characters flit in and out of the main character’s life, perhaps only appearing in one or two scenes throughout the book. However, a well-rounded story still requires a few tertiaries. We all have them in real life, after all — the barista you only see once a week, the random guy you sit next to in class — so any realistic fictional story should include them too.
Stock character
Stock characters aren’t necessarily flat either, though you do have to be careful with them. Similar to archetypes, stock characters are those familiar figures that appear in stories time after time: the chosen one, the joker, the mentor. You don’t want to overuse them, but they can really help round out your cast and make readers feel “at home” in your story.
The trick to using this type is to not just rely on their archetypal features. So when planning a character, you might start out with a stock, but you have to embellish and add other unique elements to give them depth.
Symbolic character
As we mentioned earlier, a symbolic character is used to represent something larger and more important than themselves, which usually ties into the overall message of the book or series. This type must also be used sparingly — or at least subtly, so the reader doesn’t feel like the symbolism is too heavy-handed. As a result, the true nature of a symbolic character may only be fully understood at the very end of a story.
OTHER COMMON 'CHARACTER' FEATURES IN THEATRE
THE NARRATOR
The Narrator of a piece of theatre is a performer who speaks directly to the audience to tell them part of the story, to give additional information, or to comment on the scene or the behaviour of characters. In Macbeth (An Undoing), Carlin functioned (at times) as a narrator. Her purpose was to highlight the metatheatrical conventions of this feminist retelling, provide commentary, and make the audience question their complicity in the types of stories that are told.
THE CHORUS
The chorus speaks directly to the audience and may not interact with the main characters of a story at all. Their purpose is to underscore the moral themes, actions, character development, and messages of a story to the audience. The Greek chorus was prevalent in classical Greek drama of the 5th century BCE.
CAMEO
An appearance in a small role in a play, television programme or film.
ENSEMBLE
An acting group. Normally used to describe a group of actors who work well together, with no-one outshining the others. A performance where the emphasis is on group work, and there are no star performers, is an ensemble performance.
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