Performer - Culture & Literature Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella, Margaret Layton © 2012 Fiction: characters and point of view

The distinction between flat characters and round characters was introduced by the novelist E. M. Forster ( ) in his work Aspects of the Novel (1927). 1. Flat and round characters Performer- Culture&Literature Edward Morgan Forster

Fiction: characters and point of view can also be called ‘types’ or ‘caricatures’; are built around a single psychological trait or quality; are easy to recognise; do not develop throughout the story, even if they experience different relationships and situations; are not always artistically inferior to round characters; can be used to create a particular atmosphere inside a complex narrative frame; can be easily presented in a few sentences as in the case of Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. 2. Flat characters Performer- Culture&Literature

Fiction: characters and point of view Performer- Culture&Literature In Pride and Prejudice Mrs Bennet is the representation of the mother who has to marry five daughters. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news. (J. Austen, Pride and Prejudice) 2. Flat characters

Fiction: characters and point of view Performer- Culture&Literature are more complex and have more than one facet; pass through the crucial events of the story; are remembered by the reader in connection with those scenes; their personality is modified by experience; are likely to influence the development of the story; are fit to surprise the reader in a convincing way; bring the variety of real life into the novel. 3. Round characters

Fiction: characters and point of view Performer - Culture & Literature An example of round character is Elizabeth Bennet, in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, when she realises she has been prejudiced towards Mr Darcy: 3. Round characters I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment, I never knew myself. (J. Austen, Pride and Prejudice)

Fiction: characters and point of view Performer- Culture&Literature 4. The point of view shifting from the narrator’s to the character’s, or from one character’s to another’s The point of view can be fixed and therefore restricted

Fiction: characters and point of view Performer- Culture&Literature 4. The point of view The wind caught the houses with full force. (from Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence) Paul heard the wind catching the houses with full force. (from Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence) The point of view is Paul’s The narrative voice is the same The point of view is that of an external narrator

Fiction: characters and point of view Performer- Culture&Literature 4. The point of view Mrs Morel was a puritan. (from Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence) Her husband thought Mrs Morel was a puritan. (from Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence) The husband’s point of view The narrator’s point of view = narrative voice and point of view coincide The point of view does not simply refer to the description or perception of facts and events, but also to their interpretation:

Fiction: characters and point of view Performer- Culture&Literature To sum up: Narrative voice and point of view do not always coincide. The narrative voice belongs to the person who is speaking, be it an internal or an external narrator. Regards the person who, inside the story, sees the facts, thinks and judges. May vary more often than the narrative voice. 4. The point of view