Characters and Words
Many questions asked about drama texts deal with character.
They ask you to:
| say what the character is like |
| show how he or she changes |
| discuss the way characters are similar or different |
| judge the importance of a character within the play as a whole |
In a novel, there is often a narrator who helps you to find out about a character, but in a play, you can only learn about a character from the words.
This means that your only sources of information are the character, what others say about him or her, and in certain cases, stage directions. A playwright, unlike a novelist, can’t tell you things directly. When we look at the words of a play we see four ways in which characters are created.
| the way they speak |
| what they say about themselves |
| what they say about each other |
| how they are contrasted |
Characters and Speech
The most important point about character in drama is what makes a character distinctive is the way in which he or she speaks. You should always therefore ask about a character:
Do these characters speak in an individual way ?
1. Look again at Act 1 Scene 3. How do the witches speak ?
- do they speak in long or short sentences, repeat words, use hesitation, speak formally or informally, say a little or a lot ? Do they speak in prose or poetry ?
Characters on themselves
Sometimes a character says something about him or herself. It is therefore useful to ask:
Do any of the characters comment on themselves ?
2. Look at Macbeth's soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 7 .
What does it tell us about him as a character ?
Characters speaking about each other
This is the third way of establishing character - what one character says about another. You can ask:
Do characters make comment on each other ?
3. How does Lady Macbeth describe Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 5 ?
How do Macduff and Malcolm describe him in Act 4 Scene 3?
On a separate sheet, write a list of all the words and phrases that each character uses to describe another.
It is probably easiest to draw up a table.
Are their comments fair and/or true ?
Characters Contrasted
Sometimes playwrights deliberately contrast one character with another in order to bring out what each is like. It’s always worthwhile asking:
Are any of the characters in this play contrasted ?
Some characters are contrasted because they have a lot in common, other people, because they are very different. It is important to understand why the playwright contrasts characters. Usually a contrast brings out something important about the meaning of the play as a whole.
Whenever you write about contrasts between characters, you should examine how their language creates differences.
4. List the ways in which Macbeth and Banquo are contrasted
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