Who it literary character? We devote our article to this issue. In it, we will tell you where this name came from, what literary characters and images are, and how to describe them in literature lessons at your own request or the teacher’s request.
Also from our article you will learn what an "eternal" image is and what images are called eternal.
Literary hero or character. Who is it?
Often we hear the concept of "literary character". But what it is about, few can explain. And even schoolchildren who have recently returned from a literature lesson often find it difficult to answer a question. What is this mysterious word "character"?
Came to us from ancient latin(persona, personnage). Meaning - "person", "person", "person".
So, a literary character is actor It is mainly about prose genres, since the images in poetry are usually called "lyrical hero".
It is impossible to write a story or a poem, a novel or a story without characters. Otherwise, it will be a meaningless set, if not of words, then perhaps of events. The heroes are people and animals, mythological and fantastic creatures, inanimate objects, for example, Andersen's steadfast tin soldier, historical figures and even entire nations.
Classification of literary heroes
They can confuse with their number any connoisseur of literature. It's especially hard for middle school students. And especially those who prefer to play their favorite game instead of doing homework. How to classify heroes if this is required by a teacher or, even worse, an examiner?
The most win-win option: classify the characters according to their importance in the work. On this basis, literary heroes are divided into main and secondary. Without the protagonist, the work and its plot will be a collection of words. But in case of loss secondary characters we will lose a certain branch storyline or expressiveness of events. But in general, the work will not suffer.
The second classification option is more limited and will not suit all works, but fairy tales and fantastic genres. This is the division of heroes into positive and negative. For example, in the tale of Cinderella, poor Cinderella - positive hero, it causes pleasant emotions, you sympathize with her. Here are the sisters evil stepmother- clearly heroes of a completely different warehouse.
Character characteristic. How to write?
Heroes of literary works sometimes (especially in a literature lesson at school) need a detailed description. But how to write it? The option "there once was such a hero. He is from a fairy tale about this and that" is clearly not suitable if the assessment is important. We will share with you a win-win option for writing the characteristics of a literary (and any other) hero. We offer you a plan brief explanations what and how to write.
- Introduction. Name the work and the character you will be talking about. You can also add here why you want to describe it.
- The place of the hero in the story (novel, story, etc.). Here you can write whether he is main or secondary, positive or negative, a person or a mythical or historical person.
- Appearance. It will not be superfluous with quotes, which will show you as an attentive reader, and even add volume to your characterization.
- Character. Everything is clear here.
- Actions and their characteristics in your opinion.
- Conclusions.
That's all. Save this plan for yourself, and it will come in handy more than once.
Notable literary characters
Although the very concept of a literary hero may seem completely unfamiliar to you, if you tell you the name of a hero, you will most likely remember a lot. Especially it concerns famous characters literature, such as Robinson Crusoe, Don Quixote, Sherlock Holmes or Robin Hood, Assol or Cinderella, Alice or Pippi Longstocking.
Such heroes are called famous literary characters. These names are familiar to children and adults from many countries and even continents. Not knowing them is a sign of narrow-mindedness and lack of education. Therefore, if you have no time to read the work itself, ask someone to tell you about these heroes.
The concept of image in literature
Along with the character, you can often hear the concept of "image". What's this? The same as the hero, or not? The answer will be both positive and negative, because a literary character may well be a literary image, but the image itself does not have to be a character.
Often we call this or that character an image, but nature can appear in the same image in a work. And then the topic of the examination sheet can be "the image of nature in the story ...". How to be in that case? The answer is in the question itself: if we are talking about nature, you need to characterize its place in the work. Start with a description, add character elements, such as "the sky was frowning", "the sun was mercilessly hot", "the night was frightening with its darkness", and the characteristic is ready. Well, if you need a characterization of the image of the hero, then how to write it, see the plan and tips above.
What are the images?
Our next question. Here we highlight several classifications. Above, we considered one - the images of heroes, that is, people / animals / mythical creatures and images of nature, images of peoples and states.
Also images can be so-called "eternal". What " eternal image"? This concept names a hero once created by an author or folklore. But he was so "characteristic" and special that years and epochs later other authors write their characters from him, perhaps giving them other names, but the essence of this is not These heroes include the fighter against Don Quixote, the hero-lover Don Juan, and many others.
Unfortunately, modern fantasy characters do not become eternal, despite the love of fans. Why? What's better than this funny Don Quixote of Spider-Man, for example? It is difficult to explain it in two words. Only reading the book will give you the answer.
The concept of "proximity" of the hero, or My favorite character
Sometimes the hero of a work or movie becomes so close and loved that we try to imitate him, to be like him. This happens for a reason, and it is not in vain that the choice falls on this particular character. Often the favorite character becomes an image that already somewhat resembles us. Perhaps the similarity is in character, or experienced by both the hero and you. Or this character is in a situation similar to yours, and you understand and sympathize with him. In any case, it's not bad. The main thing is that you imitate only worthy heroes. And there are plenty of them in the literature. We wish you to meet only with good heroes and imitate only the positive traits of their character.
Developing the skills of writing character analysis requires a thorough reading of literary works, with particular attention to what features the author reveals in the character of the character through dialogue, description and plot. The literary analyst writes about the role that each character plays in the work in question. Most main character is called a protagonist, while a character who appears as a villain in conflict with the protagonist is called an antagonist. Great writers create multifaceted characters, so the analysis must focus on these complexities. Here are some points to keep in mind as you write your own analysis.
Steps
Beginning of work
- For example, if you're reading Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, you might choose Huck or the Runaway Slave Jim, as they are dynamic characters who exhibit a wide range of emotions and who often act unpredictably and move the plot forward with their actions.
- It would be less effective to pick a duke or a king, the rogues that Huck and Jim meet in Arkansas, and since they play rather minor roles in the story, they don't show a wide variety of emotions and are more likely just stereotypes (the narrative needs some comic relief). "detour" and an opportunity for Huck and Jim to separate so that Huck can enjoy that shameless moment when he makes his mischievous statement "Well, then I'll go to hell," and the duke and king will fill this role).
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Read the story, paying particular attention to your character. Even if you have already read this work before, you need to read it again, because. now that you are facing specific task, you will be able to mark the new traits. Pay attention to any circumstances in which your character appears and consider answers to the following questions:
- How does the author describe them?
- Regarding Huck Finn, for example, you might think that the author describes Huck as a retarded backwoods boy, although he clearly struggles with serious social issues such as slavery and religion.
- What kind of relationship exists between your character and the other characters?
- Think about how Huck feels about runaway slave Jim at the beginning and end of the novel? Think about Huck's attitude towards his drunk and abusive father? What shape did this give to his personality?
- How does your character's actions move the plot of the novel forward?
- Huck is undeniably the main character, so it's obvious that his actions are important. But, specifically, what is so special about Huck's actions? How he arrives at decisions that are different from decisions that other people in a similar situation might make. You could discuss Huck's decision to save Jim from the people who intended to return Jim to his owner because he decided that slavery was unfair, despite the fact that this idea is contrary to everything his society has taught him.
- What does your hero have to deal with?
- Consider how Huck grows and learns as the plot of the novel progresses. At first, there is a fear that he will be caught cheating (for example, falsifying his own death), but later he avoids the trickery he observes (as when he tries to throw off the deceivers - the duke and the king).
- How does the author describe them?
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Take notes. In the course of reading the work for the second time, write down all the important information that gives an idea of the main character as a person with a deeper character. Take marginal notes and underline important statements as you continue to read this piece.
- You can also keep a notepad ready while you read, this will help you keep your thoughts on the character as you continue reading.
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Choose a main idea. Collect all your notes about the chosen character and try to formulate the main idea that is reflected in them. This will serve as a statement of your thesis for character analysis. Consider all the actions, their motivations, and the outcome of the main storyline. Perhaps your idea of the thesis will help to reveal how in character young man reflects the stress of growing up and the virtues inherent in people. Perhaps the character of your character shows readers that even those people who make horrendous mistakes are capable of redemption and deserve it.
- In a situation Huck Finn, for example, you could highlight something related to the hypocrisy of civilized society, since, in essence, this is a novel about a boy who was raised in the spirit of approval of the enslavement of Negroes, but who decides, thanks to his experience with Jim on the river, treat him as a person and as a friend, not as a slave. Likewise, Huck's own father captures and "enslaves" Huck, from which Huck ultimately flees and mirrors Jim's desire for freedom. Society considers Huck's flight morally justified and just, while Jim's flight in the eyes of the townspeople is a terrible crime. This contradiction is the main problem of the novel.
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Make sketches. Once you've decided on the main idea, make a quick sketch of all your supporting materials. Mark in the text the places where your character exhibits the traits that you included in your thesis. Include additional complicating facts in the sketch to deepen the character's inner feelings.
Writing character analysis
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Write an introduction. Based on your thesis idea, prepare an introductory paragraph about the character you have chosen and the role he or she plays in the story. literary work.
Describe appearance your character. Describe what your character looks like and explain what features of his appearance indicate the features of his personality. Try to quote or paraphrase text taken directly from the book.
- Think about Huck's tattered clothes and what that fact says about his character. Discuss how Huck dresses up as a little girl to gather news in town, and how this altered appearance affects your analysis of Huck's personality.
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Discuss the origin of your character. If information is available, include facts about the character's personal background (some of these details may be implied or implied). People's life history inevitably influences their personality and the development of their personality, so it's important to discuss your character's development history if possible. Where and when was the character born and raised? What education did your character get? How past experience character affects what he does and says?
- Discuss Huck's relationship with his father, Widow Douglas, and Miss Watson, who adopted him. How do these characters influence Huck's development? The contrast between Huck's alcoholic father and the conservative ladies who take care of him later is an interesting continuum. social behavior(continuous medium, continuous object) to analyze and ponder where Huck's own beliefs and actions fall on this continuum.
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Discuss the features of using the language. Analyze the language the character uses throughout the story. Whether the character always uses the same language or his/her choice language tools changes throughout the story from the introduction to the conclusion?
- It must be admitted that for a boy, Huck's treatment is too vulgar, and he often speaks in a way that the Widow Douglas would approve of. He tries very hard to obey her and behave appropriately in church, but often makes mistakes and draws attention to himself with his actions and words, like a man whose level of civilization is much lower than he claims to be, and which Widow Douglas would approve of.
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Description of the character's personality. Does the character act under the influence of emotions or reason? What values does he demonstrate with his words and lifestyle? Does the character have goals or ambition? Give a specific answer and quote or paraphrase relevant text from the book.
- Huck Finn tries to obey the rules that exist in society, but at the end of the day he acts based on his emotions. He decides to save Jim from the danger of being returned to his master, even though it's against the law, as he believes Jim doesn't deserve to be treated like a slave. Huck makes this decision on his own, in direct opposition to the values that society has taught him.
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Analyze the character's relationships with other people. Consider how your character interacts with other people in this novel. Is the character a leader, or does he tend to follow others? Does the character have close friends and family? Give examples from the text as you analyze.
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Describe how the character changes or grows throughout the story. Most of the main characters will experience conflict situation throughout the entire period of time described in the novel. Some conflict is external (introduced by forces beyond anyone's control), while other conflict is internal (the character's personal experiences and actions related to them). Does the character get better or worse in the end? In great works of literature, memorable characters usually change or grow.
- Huck's external conflicts are based on the events of the journey down the river - the physical struggle with the surrounding conditions, his misadventures along the way, various scandals, and so on. His internal conflict reaches its climax when Huck decides to help Jim free himself. At this crucial moment, Huck follows his heart, not the demands of society.
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Choose your character. For a character analysis assignment in school, you may be asked to describe a literary character. But if you can choose, make sure you tend to only consider characters who play dynamic roles in the story. Dull and boring characters (one-dimensional, someone only "good" or only "bad", who do not consider any complex motivations) are not a suitable choice for analysis.
Lecture No. 9
Topic: literary character in an artistic image
Plan:
The figurative system of the work
Types of images by content
Types of images by type of literature
Techniques for creating character images
Classification of character images according to statics - dynamics
Techniques for creating a character portrait
Character system
Features of the character system in various creative methods
Various sources when creating character images:
Typical forms. Typical character.
literary character
Conflict and literary character
The development of the concept of literary character in different artistic eras
An approximate plan for characterizing an artistic image-character.
The figurative system of a literary work
Reading works of art, we first of all pay attention to its main characters - to the images of people.
The word "image" in literary criticism has several meanings and several classifications.
NB: Recall the various classifications of images in the literature and name them according to the principle of grouping different types of images (see Lecture No. 3-4)
Another classification is according to the “layers” of the figurative system of a literary work:
1) the first layer - all art is figurative - reality is recreated by the artist with the help of images. In the image, the general, generic is revealed through the individual and is transformed. In this sense, we can say: the image of the Motherland, the image of nature, the image of man, i.e. picture in art form Motherland, nature, man, and any phenomenon of the external or internal world.
2) the second layer - artistic speech works - at the linguistic level of the work, the image is identical to the concepts of "figurative word", "tropes", "figure" or "image-sound" - they represent four layers of artistic language
3) the third layer - images of characters and circumstances , heroes who find themselves in conflicts.
From the images of all these three layers of the layer, a holistic image of fate and the world is formed, i.e.concept of being in a literary work.
Types of images by content
These are only images of people, and they are arranged in ascending order of generalization of images, while each of them retains concreteness and singularity, individuality:
The image is a character character - these images are neutral, equal, they are like everyone else, like any of us
Image - Literary character- a set of mental, emotional, effective-practical and physical qualities of a person
Image - Type = typical character is an image in individual form which reveals the essence or essential features of any phenomenon, time, social group, people, etc.
Image - Hero- positive typical character (although there are other concepts that accept the concept villain-cm. below in the text of the lecture)
In the following sections of the lecture, up to the section “literary character”, we will use the term “images of characters” in the broad sense of the word, as in general the images of people in literary works
Types of images - characters by type of literature
Here various literary images are classified according to the place of their application in different kinds of literature. Although in a broader sense, both lyrical, and dramatic, and epic images can be found in any kind and genre of literature.
Lyrical images of characters - are most often found in poetry, the author depicts only the thoughts and feelings of the hero, without external events of his life. Lyrical hero - the image of a hero in a lyrical work, experiences, feelings, whose thoughts reflect the author's worldview. This is the artistic "double" of the author-poet, which has its own inner world, its own destiny. AT lyrical hero the spiritual world of both the author and his contemporaries is embodied. The lyrical hero of A. S. Pushkin is a harmonious, spiritually rich personality who believes in love, friendship, and is optimistic in his outlook on life. The lyrical hero of Lermontov is the "son of suffering", disappointed in reality, lonely, romantically striving for freedom and freedom and tragically not finding them.
Dramatic images of characters - are most often found in drama, the author uses self-disclosure techniques to depict the image - character, self-characteristics
Epic images of characters are most often found in epic genres, the author-narrator consistently describes the characters, their thoughts and feelings, actions, environment, events in their life, their relationship with other characters, etc.
Techniques for creating images - characters:
Character portrait - facial features, figures, clothes, etc.
Character portrait - internal, psychological
Character character - a description of character traits, personality traits, affections, likes and dislikes, beliefs, ideals of the character
In the plot system - through the actions of the character
Depiction of nature in a character's life
Image of the social environment, society, era in which the character lives
Description of the close environment of the character, the conditions of his life, his room, house, street, etc.
Psychological analysis of the character's life, his thoughts, feelings, experiences and actions
The language characteristic of the character is his own artistic speech
Characterization of a character by other characters
Artistic detail as a symbolic characteristic of the essence of the character, his internal state currently or permanently
NB: For example: describe the image of Natasha Rostova, when creating which the author used all these techniques
Classification of character images in terms of their development or static character
1) static image - character devoid of development
2) a dynamic image - the character is presented in change, in development, evolution, in the development of character, a regularity is always manifested. The logic of character development sometimes comes into conflict with the author's intention (even A. S. Pushkin complained to Pushchin that Tatyana got married without his "knowledge").
The development of characters is one of the main features of epic genres: the novel, short story, some stories and poems.
In plays, character development is less common. An interesting example: in N. V. Gogol's comedy "The Government Inspector" the finale is a "silent scene": the "petrification" of the heroes is the result of a moral upheaval caused by the new message of the gendarme, and it was this STATICITY that the author showed as the beginning of insight and spiritual renewal of people.
The development of character is not at all an indispensable condition for the depiction of a person in literature. No less interesting can be characters that are static, not changing. As a rule, such characters appear in cases where the writer is interested in a certain type of personality that is of public interest or remarkable for the completeness of the manifestation of any striking universal human qualities. The image of such characters is often full of details, details.
In Russian classical literature, the developed characters were portrayed when realist writers sought to represent some historical era, social, domestic or professional environment. Static characters were often, as it were, signs of an era or environment, life, customs, and had no independent meaning.
There are many such characters in L. N. Tolstoy's historical novel "War and Peace": these are the characters of historical figures (Alexander I, Napoleon, Kutuzov) and fictional characters (Anna Pavlovna Sherer, old Bolkonsky, older generation the Rostov families, Vera and Berg, the Kuragin family).
The characters of Gogol's characters hardly change. In The Inspector General and Dead Souls, officials and landowners represent the Russian nobility with its social and moral vices. The writer carefully individualizes his characters, but at the same time they remain fully formed people, as if “grown” into the world of familiar relationships, into the world of things around them.
Even in romanticism there can be static characters: M.Yu. Lermontov created in the poem "Mtsyri" vivid image a rebellious hero incapable of compromise. This character is exceptional in depth, thoroughness of psychological study, the personality is amazingly whole, complete. This is a hero-symbol in which the author expressed his ideas about a certain type of personality. This is the personality of a prisoner, striving for absolute freedom, ready to enter into an argument with fate even for the sake of a sip of freedom.
In Pechorin, Lermontov wanted to present the "hero" of his time. The character of Pechorin, of course, reflects the era and the spiritual image of the noble elite. The spiritual world of Pechorin, however, does not develop, contradictions and internal conflicts do not lead to changes in character. Pechorin is shown in "eternal" discord with himself and the people around him. Lermontov strove for the completeness of the image of an already established personality.
Techniques for creating a character portrait:
Portrait - description (external features) (Lensky in "Eugene Onegin")
Portrait - comparison (comparison with other characters or with literary stereotypes) (Tatyana and Olga in "Eugene Onegin")
The portrait is concise, brief (Phoebus in Notre Dame Cathedral)
Portrait detailed and detailed (Don Quixote and Sancho Panza)
Psychological portrait (Pechorin in "A Hero of Our Time")
Static portrait - without development and changes, with constant static details (porters of landowners in "Dead Souls")
A dynamic portrait - an image of a character in development, in all its changes over time (the image of Natasha Rostova)
Literary portrait - this is a recreation of the appearance of the characters of epic and dramatic works, appearance people in lyrical poems (face, figure, clothes, gait, gestures, demeanor). This is one of the main methods of depicting a person in a literary work. A portrait, emphasizing individual, unique features in a person, is an important means of creating his image.
The portrait description is one of the most ancient methods of verbal art.
In folklore, the image of the appearance of people was used not only to represent them.
The portrait was means of author's evaluation hero (uplifting, idealizing or negative, derogatory). In literature, the usual, "passport" portrait, representing a person, is used quite widely. However, in the works of Russian writers of the XIX-XX centuries. portrait descriptions often carry a more significant semantic load. The portrait gives the writer ample opportunity to characterize not only the appearance, but also the inner world of a person, since in the appearance of a person his views on life, character, and psychological characteristics are always manifested to a greater or lesser extent.
Psychological picture - one of the options for depicting the appearance of people in literature. Unlike the usual portrait, the main objective which - to represent a person, the psychological portrait connects the appearance of the hero with the peculiarities of his inner world. The portrait description indicates the state of the hero's soul, focuses the reader's attention on those details of the person's appearance that carry information about thoughts, feelings, experiences and moods.
There are two types of psychological portrait:
1) in portrait description the correspondence of the hero's appearance to his inner world can be emphasized;
2) the appearance of the hero and his inner world are correlated according to the principle of contrast.
First variety psychological portrait is widely used by all writers. Its basis is the conviction that a person's appearance is a mirror of his soul, especially if he is an open, sincere person who does not know how or does not want to pretend. Even in a closed, secretive person, an attentive observer can discern the secret, behind the “mask” appearance, consider the true “face”. A classic example of such a portrait is the psychological portrait of Pechorin in the story "Maxim Maksimych" ("A Hero of Our Time").
Second variety: the portrait allows the writer to detect the discrepancy between the appearance of the hero and his true spiritual qualities. Most often, under the pretense of indifference and calmness of a person, strong passions and unrest are hidden. The apparent poverty of emotions masks the inner energy, the ability for deep feelings. Sometimes this contradiction is not immediately revealed to the reader.
For example: portraits-sketches of Tatyana, a secular lady in the eighth chapter of the novel "Eugene Onegin" resemble statues placed in the sculptor's workshop. A thick veil of etiquette-friendly secular communication hides her true experiences. But this is revealed only in the last scene, when Onegin finds Tatyana crying over his letter. For a moment it seemed to him that the ice had melted. In this homely dressed woman, he suddenly recognized "the former Tatyana, touching and beautiful in sincere expression of feelings:" The princess in front of him, alone, / Sitting, not cleaned, pale, / Reading a letter / And quietly pouring tears like a river, / Leaning on your hand with your cheek” (Chapter Eight, XL).
For example: another version of the contrasting portrait allows writers to immediately detect the hero's ability to "mimicry" - this is how Andrei Bolkonsky is portrayed in Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" (volume one, part 1, ch. XXV). Alone with himself, the prince, going to war, does not hide his feelings: “The face of Prince Andrei was very thoughtful and gentle. With his hands clasped back, he quickly paced the room from corner to corner, looking ahead of himself, and shook his head thoughtfully. But the appearance of Bolkonsky instantly changes as soon as he realizes that his privacy will be violated. This is a contrasting portrait, emphasizing the hero’s usual need to carefully hide his state of mind: “Was it scary to go to war, was it sad to leave your wife - maybe both, only, apparently, not wanting to be seen in such a position Hearing footsteps in the passage, he hurriedly freed his hands, stopped at the table, as if he were tying the cover of a box, and took on his usual calm expression.
Character system
This is one of the ways to express the ideological and artistic intent of the author. Character in work of art exists not by itself, but in a system of relations with other characters. All literary heroes at the same time interact, are compared, compared, contrasted. The more interconnections a character has, the brighter his versatility is illuminated, his individuality is revealed. Depth and complexity, the ambiguity of the character's character.
The system of characters in a work of art is made up of all types of images in terms of content - these are only images of people, they are arranged in order of increasing generalization of these images, while each of them retains specificity and singularity, has its own individuality: Character or character; literary character; Type, or typical character; Hero.
Features of the character system in different creative methods:
Classicism - distributed the hero into positive and negative, almost schematic and unambiguous (Molière, "Tartuffe")
Romanticism - reflected deeply and fully only the main, extraordinary characters in extraordinary circumstances, and all other characters were secondary, they served to reveal the main characters (Byron, "Childe Harold's Journey")
Realism - created a complex system of relationships between different equivalent images of characters, the intersection of destinies, their opposition, antagonism, parallelism, the presence of characters - doubles, etc. (Stendhal, "Red and Black", the image of Julien Sorel)
Various sources when creating character images:
Historical prototype (Gorky's essay "Lenin")
Synthesis real prototypes when one trait is taken from many people of the same type (“Marriage” by Gogol)
- “first comer” as a prototype (Turgenev saw his images of people, but without faces, until he “met a face”)
Forms typical:
Singular - that which is born and dies in one person, situation, social and individual position
Mass - something that expresses the essence of some mass of people (for example, Chapaev is a type that expresses the essence of the unorganized peasant masses, everything positive and negative that they have)
The universal is a concrete historical, and at the same time “eternal” typical image, the main features of which are manifested in the features of other peoples, times, cultures, individuals
Typical, general - appears in the literature only in the individual and single
The interpenetration of the individual and the general determines both the integrity of the artistic image and the disclosure by the writer of the truth of life.
Classification of typical content:
Typification of traits of people of a certain historical time and social class (Skotinin, Ranevskaya, Korchagin)
Typification of national character traits (Kalashnikov)
Typification of epochal characters (The Miserly Knight)
Typification of the outgoing (Rudin, heroes of the "noble nests")
Typification of the new (Chatsky, Bazarov, Rakhmetov)
Typification of a certain ideology, philosophy of life (Aduev in I. Goncharov's novel "Ordinary History", Young Guards from A. Fadeev's novel "Young Guard")
Often different types typifications are intertwined in one image.
typical character
Typical in the depiction of people: it can only be known through the unique human characters created by the writer.
A character becomes typical if it correlates with the laws of social life that determined its formation, if its general significance is manifested for a certain group of people or certain living conditions.
Typical character - or literary type- manifests itself when the most characteristic features for a given time and environment are embodied in the creative process of creating images of heroes.
The literary type is a generalized image of human individuality, the most possible, characteristic of a certain social environment at a certain time.
Every type is a character, but not every character is a type.
The type doesn't have to be seen frequently on the streets.
It could be exceptional person, but the content of this exclusivity is the highest human traits that have been developed in the depths of life itself. They are a manifestation of all the best that has been developed by mankind in its history.
The literary type reflects the laws of social development.
It combines two sides: individual (single) and general.
Typical does not mean average ; type always concentrates in itself all the most striking, characteristic of a whole group of people - social, national, age, etc.
In the literature, types of goodies (Tatyana Larina, Chatsky), "superfluous people", Turgenev's girls have been created.
Korolenko – article “Positive types: they reflect
All the positive possibilities of life
They reveal gifted human nature in the most difficult living conditions.
The exclusivity of a person is manifested in real life conditions
The very possibility of such a person is proved artistically, when everything in him, if not real, then everything is a POSSIBLE reality, that is, an IDEAL.
Here we are talking only about the positive typical hero. However, typical heroes can also be negative: the images of landowners in Gogol, the images of officials in Gogol, Dostoevsky and Chekhov, the images of some noblemen from higher secular society Tolstoy, etc.
Literary character
This is a certain human individuality in all its living diversity
it human individuality , consisting of certain mental and moral, mental traits. This is the unity of emotional reaction, temperament, will and the type of behavior determined by the socio-historical situation and time (epoch). Character consists of diverse traits and qualities, but this is not an accidental combination of them. In each character there is a main, dominant feature, which gives a living unity to the whole variety of qualities and properties.
- It set of traits literary hero, in which individual characteristics serve as a reflection of the typical, conditioned both by the phenomenon that makes up the content of the work, and by the ideological and aesthetic intention of the author who created this hero.
- In psychology, character - these are recurring, stable internal properties of a person: worldview, moral principles, life values, habits - everything that allows you to characterize him as a person. One can talk about the character of a literary hero in the same way as about the character of a real person: is he smart or stupid; generous and generous or, on the contrary, stingy and greedy; he is an altruist, sacrificing himself for the sake of others, or, perhaps, an egoist, contemptuous of people; honest, noble or scoundrel, liar, adventurer. All the variety of good and bad properties real people can be embodied in the characters of literary heroes.
it "Isolation" of character in literature : the writer often emphasizes, as it were, “enlarges” in his characters those traits of their characters that seem to him the most important. Other features may be said in less detail, and some aspects of the personality of the characters may remain completely hidden from the reader for the simple reason that nothing is said about them. Characters central characters are portrayed in more detail than the characters of minor ones, and the characters of episodic characters can be barely outlined.
it manifold: the character of a literary hero is never limited to one property, it is always collection of different and interrelated properties . For example, in the works of N.V. Gogol, the characters are almost always static, devoid of development. The writer emphasizes in the objects around them, in the situations in which these people appear, recurring features that reflect the personality of the hero. One gets the impression that the author of "Dead Souls" wants to show the identity of the characters' personalities and their everyday environment. Most of the details (portrait, landscape, object) are characterological details: they point to the same sides of the personality. However, Gogol's characters are not limited to only one, albeit important, conspicuous property.
it complexity: the more complex the character of a person depicted in a literary work, the more diverse, sometimes contradictory, properties it has. All of them form a complex unity that makes the characters inimitable, unique, even if some of the human qualities of different characters are close or the same.
it artistic generalization human properties, character traits in the individual appearance of the hero. A hero as a person can cause admiration or repulsion, perform actions, act, but the image of a character is an artistic category, and it is evaluated from the point of view of the writer's artistic skill. For example: you can’t say “I despise the image of Molchalin”, although you can despise the silent type.
Characters, like heroes, can be major and minor , but when applied to episodic actors, only the term "character" is used. Often, a character is understood as a minor person who does not influence events, and a literary hero is a multifaceted character, important for expressing the idea of a work.
- Another concept of a hero: a hero is not only a character who carries positive principles and is an expression of the author's ideal. The statement that negative satirical characters (Plyushkin, Iudushka Golovlev, Kabanikha) are not heroes is incorrect, since two concepts are mixed here - a hero as a character and heroic as a way of human behavior. satirical hero works are a character, a character against whom the point of satire is directed. Naturally, such a hero is hardly capable of heroic deeds, i.e. is not a hero in the behavioral sense of the word.
- This is the image of a person, outlined with a certain completeness and individual certainty, through which both the type of behavior (actions, thoughts, experiences, speech activity) conditioned by a given socio-historical situation and the type inherent in the author are revealed. moral and aesthetic concept of human existence.
– itorganic unity general, repetitive and individual, unique;
it unity of the objective (the socio-psychological reality of human life, which served as a prototype for the literary character)and subjective (understanding and evaluation of the prototype by the author).
As a result, literary x character appears in art "new reality" artistically "created" personality, which, reflecting the real human type, ideologically clarifies it and all human existence in all its diversity.
Conflict and literary character
Very often, the character of the character is determined by internal conflict.
Internal conflict - these are the contradictions of the inner world of a person, the struggle in his worldview of various, sometimes mutually exclusive tendencies, the opposition in him of good and evil principles, altruism and selfishness, pity, compassion and indifference to people, reason and feelings, desire and duty.
>>Learning to be readers. About the character of a literary hero. About pathos in a work of art
The literary hero (character) is interesting to the reader as a person with only his appearance, inner world, demeanor, ability to act, to enter into relationships with other people. All these qualities (properties) of a person constitute character.
The character of a literary hero(from Greek charaktei imprint, sign, distinguishing feature) is the image of a person in a literary work, created with a certain completeness and endowed with individual characteristics.
What, for example, is Gogol's Taras Bulba? What makes him different from other characters in the story? From its very first pages we see an experienced, old Cossack, most of whose life was spent in the Zaporizhzhya Sich and military campaigns. "Taras was one of the indigenous, old colonels: he was all created for abusive anxiety and was distinguished by the rude directness of his temper." These stingy but expressive details author's characteristic heroes help us imagine the old chieftain. The addition to the portrait is a description of the room, decorated "in the taste of that swearing, difficult time when fights and battles began to play out in Ukraine."
And what are the actions of Taras Bulba? How does he behave in peacetime and wartime?
Everything in the life of Taras and his family is subordinated to the fulfillment of military duty. Having just met his sons who came from Bursa, he tells them: “Your tenderness is a clean field and a good horse; here is your tenderness! Do you see this sword? Here is your mother!" And then we learn how Taras takes his sons to the Sich, how he cares that good Cossacks come out of them.
To the greatest extent, the character of the hero in a work of art is manifested when the author depicts him in complex life situations. We are deeply concerned about the speech of Taras Bulba about the strength of comradeship, addressed to the Cossacks before a difficult battle near the city of Dubno: “There are no ties holier than camaraderie!!!”; "... Only one person can become related by kinship by soul, and not by blood." We admire the heroic behavior of Taras during the battle, when, forgetting about the mortal danger, he encourages the Cossacks and every time he finds himself where it is most difficult. The character of Taras Bulba is especially clearly revealed, his extraordinary stamina and fortitude are manifested in the terrible trials that befell him: when he himself kills his traitor son, when he is present at the execution of Ostap, when he dies a martyr's death at the stake.
The character of a literary hero is also his thoughts, feelings, experiences. Let us recall the mood with which Taras Bulba rode to the Zaporizhzhya Sich: “Old Taras thought about the past: before him passed his youth, his summers, his past years, about which the Cossack almost always weeps, wishing that his whole life was youth. He thought about whom he would meet in the Sich from his former comrades. He calculated which ones had already died, which ones were still alive. A tear quietly rounded on his eye, and his graying head drooped dejectedly.
One of the important means of characterizing a literary hero is his speech. Taras Bulba's speech deepens our understanding of him as a strong, determined chieftain, a devoted comrade, loving father. So, we understand how deeply Taras suffers when, hanging his gray head, he speaks about the most painful: “My Ostap, my Ostap!”; “Whatever it is, I’ll go to find out what he is: is he alive? in grave? or is it not already in the grave itself? I'll scout it out no matter what!"
The author's assessments also serve to create character in a literary work, which are most often expressed in a hidden form, but upon careful reading, their presence is found both in the description of the portrait, and in the depiction of actions, and in revealing the inner state of the hero. For example, we feel how the author himself admires the powerful, unbending nature of Taras, describing his heroic death:
“And the joyful eyes of the old chieftain flashed.
- Farewell, comrades! he shouted at them from above. “Remember me and come here again next spring, and have a good walk!”
Thus, the character of a literary hero in a work of art is revealed through the depiction of his external and internal qualities (portrait, actions, thoughts and feelings), as well as his speech and the author's assessment.
Consolidate new knowledge
1. Tell us about the methods of revealing the character of the hero in a work of art. Comment on the excerpts from the text of the story given in the article.
2. Highlight in the story "Taras Bulba" episodes, passages that characterize its heroes. Name the methods of character portrayal used in them.
About pathos in a work of art
Pathos(from the Greek pathos - passion, feeling) in fiction- this is a sublime feeling, passionate inspiration, upbeat, solemn tone of the story. Paphos manifests itself only when the writer himself is deeply concerned about what he wants to convey to the reader. Let us turn to the passage that describes the arrival of Taras Bulba with his sons in the Sich: “So here it is, the Sich! This is the nest from which all those proud and strong as lions fly out! This is where the will and the Cossacks spill over to the whole of Ukraine!”
Taras admires the Sich, excitedly says that it is the Sich that nurtures free and strong in spirit defenders of Ukraine. Note that all sentences in this passage are exclamatory. The author also uses metaphors and comparisons here, which help him convey the enthusiastic state of the hero.
Paphos in a work of art can also be transmitted through a direct characterization of the hero: “And this is kind - the enemy would not take him! - warrior! Not Ostap, but a kind, kind warrior as well! The excited tone of the narration is conveyed to the reader when describing the steppe in the story. "Damn you, steppes, how good you are!" - exclaims the author, delighted with the beauty of the Ukrainian steppe. But Taras Bulba's speech about comradeship and the scene of his execution are filled with a particularly sublime feeling.
Consolidate new knowledge
1. What is pathos?
2. How does it manifest itself in a work of art?
3. Give examples of the pathetic depiction of events and characters from Gogol's story "Taras Bulba".
Cimakova L.A. Literature: Handyman for 7th grade. zagalnoosvіtnіh navchalnyh zakladіh z rosіyskoy my navchannya. - K.: Vezha, 2007. 288 p.: il. - Mova Russian.
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Character
A character is a kind of artistic image, the subject of an action. This term in a certain context can be replaced by the concepts of "acting person" or " literary hero", but in a strict theoretical sense, these are different terms. This interchangeability is explained by the fact that in translation from Latin (persona- mask) the word "character" means an actor playing a role in a mask expressing a certain type of character, therefore, literally a character. Therefore, the term "character" should be attributed to the formal components of the text. It is permissible to use this term in the analysis of the system of images-characters, the features of the composition. A literary character is a carrier of a constructive role in a work, autonomous and personified in the representation of the imagination (it can be a person, but also an animal, plant, landscape, utensils, fantasy creature, concept), involved in the action (hero) or only sporadically indicated (for example, a person important for characterizing the environment). Taking into account the role of literary characters in the integrity of the work, they can be divided into main (first plan), secondary (second plan) and episodic, and in terms of their participation in the development of events - into incoming (active) and passive.
The concept of "character" is applicable to epic and dramatic works, to a lesser extent to lyrical ones, although lyric theorists as a kind of literature allow the use of this term. For example, G. Pospelov calls one of the types of lyrics character: "Characters ... are personalities depicted in epic and dramatic works. They always embody certain characteristics of social life and therefore have certain characteristics. personality traits, receive proper names and create by their actions, taking place in some conditions of place and time, the plots of such works. lyrical works the hero does not form the plot, unlike the epic and dramatic ones, the personality does not act directly in the work, but it is presented as an artistic image.
L. Ya. Ginzburg noted that the concepts of "lyrical subject" and "lyrical hero" should not be confused as special forms embodiment of the poet's personality.
Hero
The term "literary hero" refers to a holistic image of a person - in the aggregate of his appearance, way of thinking, behavior and spiritual world; the term “character”, which is close in meaning, if taken in a narrow, and not in a broad sense, denotes the internal psychological section of the personality, its natural properties, nature.
The heroes of works can be not only people, but also animals, fantastic images and even objects. All of them are anyway artistic images reflecting reality in the refracted consciousness of the author.
The hero is one of the central characters in a literary work, active in incidents, the main ones for the development of the action, focusing the reader's attention on himself.
The protagonist is a literary character who is most involved in the action, his fate is in the center of attention of the author and the reader.
A literary hero is an image of a person in literature. Definitely, with a literary hero, the concepts of "actor" and "character" are often used. Sometimes they are distinguished: literary heroes are called actors (characters) drawn in a more multifaceted way and more weighty for the idea of \u200b\u200bthe work. Sometimes the concept of "literary hero" refers only to actors close to the author's ideal of a person (the so-called positive hero) or embodying the heroic principle (for example, heroes of epics, epic, tragedy). It should be noted, however, that in literary criticism these concepts, along with the concepts of "character", "type" and "image", are interchangeable.
From the point of view of the figurative structure, the literary hero combines the character as the inner content of the character, and his behavior, actions as something external. The character allows us to consider the actions of the depicted person as natural, ascending to some vital reason; it is the content and law (motivation) of behavior.
Character in the usual sense is the same as a literary hero. In literary criticism, the term "character" is used in a narrower, but not always the same sense. Most often, a character is understood as a protagonist. But here, too, two interpretations differ: a person represented and characterized in action, and not in descriptions: then the concept of "character" most of all corresponds to the heroes of dramaturgy, images-roles. Any actor, subject of action in general. In such an interpretation, the protagonist is opposed only to the “pure” subject of experience, acting in the lyrics, which is why the term “character” is inapplicable to the so-called lyrical hero: one cannot say “lyrical character”.
The character is sometimes understood only as a secondary person. In this understanding, the term "character" corresponds to the narrowed meaning of the term "hero" - the central person or one of the main persons of the work. On this basis, the expression " episodic character" (and not "episodic hero").
