Background Information on Shakespeare's Character Types
William Shakespeare populated his plays with some of the most intriguing, vivid, and memorable characters in all of literature—hundreds of them, in fact. From ruthless kings to clever fools, with heroes, villains, nameless messengers, servants, and citizens, the differences between Shakespeare's characters are greater than their social status or their job functions. They are often defined by their depth, which makes one wonder if the characters' greatest trait defines them as complex or one-dimensional. Do they undergo change? When change is not present and the character is seen as stereotypical and one-dimensional, that is a stock character, which is usually static, meaning little if any change occurs during the course of the story. While stock characters are often predictable, they are also instantly recognizable and audiences tend to enjoy them for their purpose in the play, be that comic relief, a menacing presence, or just delivering news vital to the plot. One type of stock character often used by Shakespeare is the fool. These quick-witted characters entertain with silly songs, dances, riddles, and clever wordplay, often at the expense of their superiors. Sometimes the fool lends a comic touch to otherwise tense moments in the action. Some fools in Shakespeare's works include the citizen in Julius Caesar 1 1 and Peter in Romeo and Juliet. 1 2
Another common stock character is the villain. Villains vary in their motivations, methods, and goals. Yet they are unquestionably wicked, evil, and usually unremorseful for their actions. Everyone loves a good villain and Shakespeare's plays are full of them, including the conspirators Cassius, Casca, and Cinna who hatch a scheme to prevent Caesar from potentially assuming the role of king. While villains tend to be disappointed when they are foiled audiences love it when the villain(s) are finally brought to justice.
In stark contrast to the stock character is the dynamic character, which is more complex than a stock character in Shakespeare's work. The dynamic character undergoes change through the course of the story as a result of his experience. And the type of change is partly related to the circumstances the character faces. Some dynamic characters evolve as they confront challenges, causing the emergence of new traits. Sometimes the resulting traits are positive and sometimes the traits are negative. A perfect example of a dynamic character is Juliet who transforms from an innocent young girl into a mature young woman during the course of the play. Then there's Brutus who devolves from being Caesar's loyal friend and dutiful servant to the republic of Rome to a gullible man who betrays Caesar and helps assassinate him.
Another kind of character is the foil. The purpose of this character is to provide a contrast with another character, usually the protagonist. This helps to magnify certain characteristics of that main character. For example, in Julius Caesar 1 3, Marc Antony may be seen as a foil for Brutus in that the former is a persuasive and charismatic speaker whereas the latter is straightforward and less persuasive in his speech. In the creation of so many unique characters and character types Shakespeare enriched his compelling plots and left a legacy of plays and characters that have had a lasting influence on our literature and our culture.
Similar to Shakespeare in style and character development, Kathryn Stockett is a twenty-first century author who skillfully combines historical detail, dialect, and characterization to create an intimate portrait of the fragility of integration in the Deep South. Stockett tells the story of 'the help '(colored domestics) and their employers (white housewives) in the 1960's and how their lives intertwined and divided across the strict color lines that required 'the help' to raise white children but eat outside and use an outside toilet. The novel is replete with dynamic characters, including Aibileen (colored) and Miss Skeeter (white), who join together in a risky venture to publish vignettes about domestics' experience working for whites for thirty and forty years in Jackson, Mississippi. Aibileen's best friend is Minny Jackson, who has had nineteen jobs in nineteen years because she will not stop sassing white folk. Minny serves as the foil to Aibileen, in that she is vocally aggressive, distrustful of whites, and appears fearless, while Aibileen is demure and respectful, trusts many whites, and places her faith and fears in the hands of the Lord. However, at the urging of Miss Skeeter, who wants to become a writer, they manage to create an enclave where twelve domestics surreptitiously tell their stories to Miss Skeeter (Hilly Holbrook's friend since childhood) without ever being detected by the white women that appear to control every aspect of their lives.
A static character in The Help 1 4 is Hilly Holbrook, a villain, and the quintessential Southern housewife who keeps domestics in line by falsely accusing them of theft, leading the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) League Meetings, and raising money for the PSCA (Poor Starving Children of Africa) fund. Hilly, as her friends affectionately call her, wields influence and power among her peers and is known for malicious treatment of all who disagree with her, including her aging mother, Mrs. Walters and, the help. The novel parallels the epochal developments that led up to the Civil Rights Act 1965, including the murders of Medgar Evers, President John Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s seminal March on Washington in 1963. Once the book is published bedlam breaks loose in the city of Jackson, Mississippi, as housewives read their maids' accounts of what it is really like to be "the Help" to some of the town's most prominent and ordinary families.
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