Basic Comic Characters & Plot

Ingénue “The ingénue is a stock character in literature; generally a girl or a young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome.” -- Wikipedia “Stock” character is pretty much the same as archetype. She (and sometimes he) is the person we root for, the one who represents the hope for the future, the one who can transform her life, the one whose story leads to a new start, and new family, and happily ever after.

Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin Disney is a reliable of source of stereotypes and archetypes. Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin

Kate Monster in Avenue Q She’s young and hopeful, has plans to make the world a better place for monsters. Kate Monster in Avenue Q

“Hero” in movie of Much Ado About Nothing Here is the ingenue of Much Ado About Nothing, looking all hopeful. “Hero” in movie of Much Ado About Nothing

An Ingénue needs a partner, a really cute guy. I don’t know why there isn’t a name for this character type. There ought to be.

I don’t really know why this always brings such a reaction I don’t really know why this always brings such a reaction. Cute is important. It means that he is NOT a player, NOT an abuser, and that he, too deserves happiness. Justin Bieber

The New Justin Beiber Maybe the current version of Justin Bieber is now more interesting, but he can’t keep company with a girl ingenue. That would be just creepy.

“Claudio” in film of Much Ado About Nothing The actor used to appear in “House.” “Claudio” in film of Much Ado About Nothing

Ingénue & Really Cute Guy Yes, they’re in love, and they are going to make love, and have a lot of little loves running around the house. As an archetype, they represent Spring, with all its frivolity and fertility

“What normally happens is that a young man wants a young woman, that his desire is resisted by some opposition, usually paternal, and that near the end of the play some twist in the plot enables the hero to have his will.” Northrop Frye, The Anatomy of Criticism (1957): Theory of Myths: The Mythos of Spring: Comedy (p.163) When the eminent critic, Northrop Frye, says “young man” and “young woman” he’s talking about the ingenue types. And in Shakespearean comedy, the wanting goes both ways. The young woman does some serious wanting of her own.

“some opposition, usually paternal” In Much Ado a little opposition is provided by Leonato, Hero’s Dad, so he’s a “blocking character”

The Blocking Character --A father figure --Set in his ways --Traditionalist -- He blocks the young people’s path to marriage and happiness This one is Archie Bunker, from “All in the Family,” a very popular sitcom that ran from 1971-1979. He calls his semi-hiippie son-in-law “meathead.” It’s not just him that is the threat to the happiness of the prospective couple. It’s his attitudes. He’s the sort of guy who delivers society’s conformist message: Get a haircut! Get a job! Get real!

The Blocking Character as an Archetype . . . is Old Man Winter, opposed to love and all that is green and growing.

The Blocking Character on Steroids, with Eyeshadow and a Sneer Comic Villains: The Blocking Character on Steroids, with Eyeshadow and a Sneer They deliver deep blows to the self-image of the young people.

The eyeshadow and the sneer show that this character is superior to you: smarter, more sophisticated, more knowledgeable about the ways of the world. So he gets to make fun of everyone else and is a bully. Scar

The comic villain also comes in female, but the eyeshadow remains the same. Ursula

Cruella de Ville, who doesn’t really love those puppies. Played here by Glenn Close. She’s going to harvest the pelts of those puppies, so we see that the comic villain is the agent of evil. She/he is smiling because she knows that she is smarter and more powerful than you, and that you are going to fall for her con. Cruella de Ville, who doesn’t really love those puppies.

The Comic Villain in Much Ado About Nothing Keanu Reeves as Don John, the BASTARD brother of Don Pedro. No eye shadow, but a lot of shadow. No sneer; it’s more like a self-satisfied grimace. He’s envious of people who are better than he is, so he tries to destroy them. Shakespeare wrote quite a few characters with this same psychology. One, Richard III has quite a lot in common with Donald Trump.