Task 9-Character typesEmma Wells

Vladimir Propp, a Russian and Soviet formalist scholar analysed the plots of Russian folks and identified their basic character types. He analysed one hundred folk tales and concluded that they were all made up of 31 plot elements and 8 character types.

The Hero- The hero of the story is the character that is seen as the bravest and who is sent on a quest or are trying to solve a mystery that could help his/her people and bring happiness to them or other people. The hero is the character that you want to see succeed and feel happy when he/she does.In my story of Rapunzel, Rapunzel is the hero as she is trying to get out the tower and tricks the evil witch, letting her escape.

The Villain- The Villain is the character that is out to stop the hero from achieving his/her goal. The Villains normally have flaws help highlight how good the hero actually is, turning you against the villain and putting you on the hero’s side. The Witch is The Villain in my story as she takes Rapunzel and locks her in a tower for most of her life, locking her away from the outside world. She also lies constantly to Rapunzel to stop her from wanting to leave, which Rapunzel is set out to do.

The Princess/Prize- This character can take over two forms; either the princess that the hero is fighting for or the reward from the quest the hero has taken and what he has got out of doing it. Many characters including the villain or the false hero may pursue the princess for her affection or to weaken the hero.For my story, the princess is the hero so there isn’t a princess/prince/love interest as such as her beloved is mentioned but not shown. Rapunzel’s prize from her quest of escaping the tower is her freedom to take the witches horse and go back home.

The Donor- The Donor gives the hero something to help on his/her quest such as information or a weapon. The gift helps the hero complete their quest. The Donor could also be the Helper who sticks with the hero throughout the quest. Some Donor’s require something in return for the information or weapon.In my story of Rapunzel, there is no Donor as Rapunzel is alone with the villain and has no access to anyone else. But an example of a donor could be Tony’s computer butler, JARVIS from The Avengers movie as he gives Tony Stark a new Iron Man suit to help him fly instead of falling to the ground from a high height and to help him defeat the villain, Loki.

The Helper- The hero needs help on his\her quest and may get help from a helper that provides support for the hero so he has someone to help him. The helper could help the hero through the story or just be around and help offer help where he\she can give help. However, the helper can have limitations such

as lower intelligence or could have less courage than the hero. This helps highlight the hero’s characteristics and make him seem like a better person.

The Princess’ father- The princess’ father is a key figure that the hero must impress as the father wants what is best for his daughter, meaning the hero must prove himself to the princess’ father. The father may create a triangle between the hero and his\her love interest to keep his daughter safe and out of danger. Propp noted that this character might be hard to define in a more modern story.My story does not necessarily have a father figure for the princess throughout the story as he is only shown on the first page, giving Rapunzel to the evil witch when Rapunzel was just a baby. But King Triton in The Little Mermaid is a perfect example. He knows of the crush Ariel has on Prince Eric and wants to stop her from seeing him so he can keep her where she belongs, in the ocean. But later, King Eric persuades King Triton to let Ariel live her life as she wants to, just as long as she is happy.

The False Hero- The false hero appears to be heroic at the beginning, but will reveal his/her true identity once the hero is where he/she wants the hero. The false hero may get on the good side of the princess’ father and go for the princess to anger the hero. In my story, there is no false hero as the witch and Rapunzel are shown clearly as the villain and hero of the story. But an example of a false hero is Hans from Frozen. At the beginning of the story he is nice to the hero, Anna, and makes her believe he is in love with her. But as Anna is dying and needs a true loves kiss to free her, Hans reveals who he really is and leaves Anna to die.

The Dispatcher- The Dispatcher is the character that sends the hero on a mission, which could be a family member. It could also be the Princess’ father, sending the hero to do things for her hand in marriage. The Dispatcher could be disguised as a false hero to trick the hero and send him on a quest that could end the hero’s life. In my story, there is no dispatcher but an example could be Nick Fury from The Avengers. He gives the many heroes of the film a mission to stop the villain, Loki, from using the tesseract as a weapon to take over the world.

Narrative Structure Components A Russian structuralist, Todorov, thought all narratives followed the same simple path. There are versions of his idea that have 3 and 5 steps.The 3 step version: An Equilibrium is the start of the story where life is normal for the characters and nothing s out of the ordinary. In my story, this is on Page Two when the witch climbs Rapunzel’s hair to get into the tower.Disequilibrium is when something happens in the story that changes the way the characters are going about their day. It can be a simple thing or huge thing that rocks the characters world. From this event happening, the characters act upon it to get the story back to equilibrium. In my story, this is when the witch casts a spell on the tower, thinking she has trapped Rapunzel inside.New Equilibrium is when things go back to normal and the story ends. It could also be a different normal for the characters, but still normal. We expect the story

to stay as it is and not change. This happens in my story when Rapunzel is free from the tower and takes a horse and uses the horse to get home.

The 5 step version:

Step One: All is well (Equilibrium)Step Two: An event disrupts this equilibriumStep Three: The characters realising that something is wrongStep Four: The characters attempt to repair any damage Step Five: The story returns to as it was or a new version of equilibrium.

Binary Opposition : Claude Levi Strauss was French theorist, who came up with the idea of a binary opposition. This is an idea that says, that in a story, it can only be an actual story if there are two opposing sides fighting against each other.E.G. Good Vs EvilMen Vs WomanHuman’s Vs AnimalsDogs Vs Cats

In my story, this is apparent as Rapunzel is on the good side and the witch is on the evil side, and good always wins over evil.

Types Of Structure: Open: These stories don’t have endings and just carry on the story. An example of this would be TV soaps or comic book TV shows, such as Arrow, as they run from episode to episode.Closed: The story reaches an ending and is not carried on. Films such as Liar Liar are an example of this as the story ends with no thought of leaving it on a cliffhanger.Single strand-These stories just have on storyline and don’t go off into different ones. Children’s books, such as my book, are single narrative as children may struggle to follow the story if it has many storylines in one story.Multi-strand- This is the opposite of a single strand narrative, as this goes off into different storylines about different characters. TV Soaps such as Eastenders are an example as there are many stories in one street for all the characters that live there.Linear- These stories have a beginning and go straight through the story to the end. The events happen in order and each step follows the next. Linear narratives are often used in films, books and journalism.Non-linear- Stories that don’t go straight through the story, they may have flashbacks or flash forwards to jump around before returning to the actual story time. These flash backs could offer information and make you understand a person or the story more. The TV show Arrow shows a lot of flashbacks as the main character, Oliver Queen, was stuck on an island for a year and in Hong Kong for another 2. The flashbacks help the audience understand Oliver and his story or they main reveal something that will be useful later on in the story.

Realist- Narratives that reflect on real life events that could happen in real life. These narrative are interested in people’s everyday lives. TV soaps are a good example of this.Anti-realist- Sci-fi or Fantasy stories that will not happen in real life. These can include characters, events and locations that you would never see in real life. The movie Guardians Of The Galaxy is a good example as this film includes aliens, magic boxes and technology that we might not ever get to have.

My story of Rapunzel is a non-realist linear story, as there is magic involved but the story runs through a straight line and doesn’t have flashbacks or flash forewords.