Characters-Theories

Media Character theories:

Goffmans theory

Goffman suggested that there were 4 types of characters:

1. The protagonist - the leading character
2. The deuteragonist - the secondary character
3. The bit player - A smaller character whos the audience do not know too much about
4. The fool -a character whose purpose is to humour the audience

Propps theory
Propps theory differs from Goffmans in that he has developed 7 types of character from his study of 100 fairytales:

1. The hero- A character who usually is instigated by the donor to partake in the task and eventually ends up with the princess.
2. The donor - A character who prepares the hero for the main task in the narrative.
3. The helper - A character who assists the hero in the task.
4. The princess- A character who is usually sought for during the story and usually ends up with the hero.
5. Her father- A character who is the father of the princess.
6. The dispatcher- A character who sends the hero off to participate in the task.
7. The villain- A character who fights against the hero .

Propps theory can be related to other media genres than fairytales, for example in a Rom Com the Princess would translate into the female lead.

Overall both theories can be seen throughout different types of Media. However depending on genre character types can change, for example it isn't typical to have a princess' father type character in a horror piece.


For my preliminary task I'll be usisng a mixture of the two theories.The fist character will be a protagonist and a villain, whilst the secondary character will be a deuteragonist and heroine.