Questions tagged [character-analysis]
Questions relating to the analysis of characters in works of literature: for example, their traits, construction, or other aspects. This tag should be used together with any relevant work, series, or author tags.
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Did Nina and Victor have a romantic connection or was it just built in his head?
Nabokovs Dozen, the short story 'Spring in Fialta'. The narrator is seemingly unreliable and usually the romantic parts are just his own interpretation of the event rather than her actual demeanor, ...
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Was Macbeth considering murdering Duncan before Lady Macbeth encouraged him to?
In Macbeth, after announcing that he will go be a harbinger for Duncan and make things ready for him at Inverness, Macbeth says this aside to himself:
Macbeth
[Aside]
The Prince of Cumberland! that ...
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What are the "eighteen methods of arranging Minerva's tresses"?
In Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, Jean Passepartout, Phileas Fogg's new servant, is introduced. We're given a description, which includes a descrption of his hair:
As for Jean, also known ...
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Is there an in-universe explanation for the contradictory language and euphemisms used in *The Screwtape Letters*?
For example, terms like "the patient," "our Father below," and Screwtape's affectionate language towards Wormwood. It actually strikes me as oddly similar to the "doublethink&...
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Is the character named Boorman supposed to be the same person across Elsschot's œuvre?
In analogy with the question Is the character named Laarmans supposed to be the same person across Elsschot's œuvre?, it is also possible to ask whether Boorman is the same character in the novels in ...
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Why is Antonio the changeling?
Towards the end of The Changeling (1653), after De Flores stabs Beatrice-Joanna and then reveals that the two of them have been murderers and lovers, the dying Beatrice-Joanna says to her shocked ...
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The Netherlands vs Belgium in Elsschot's Cheese
Frans Laarmans, the protagonist of Willem Elsschot's Cheese, pursues and obtains a job as the Belgian sales representative for a large Dutch cheese manufacturing enterprise. Cultural and other ...
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How to understand Doña Vera's decision to flee Austria for Mexico?
One of the major characters in Anita Desai's The Zigzag Way is Doña Vera, the Austrian widow of a Mexican silver baron. The couple had met and married in Vienna just prior to the outbreak of World War ...
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Why does Heep refer to Copperfield sometimes as mister and sometimes as master?
In Dickens' David Copperfield, the character Uriah Heep refers to David sometimes as "Mister Copperfield" and sometimes as "Master Copperfield." Other times, he makes a point to ...
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Is the character named Laarmans supposed to be the same person across Elsschot's œuvre?
The protagonist and first-person narrator of Elsschot's delicious Cheese (1933) is a hapless clerk named Frans Laarmans who finds himself unexpectedly tasked with selling twenty tons of imported full-...
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Why does Sir Walter comment that Colonel Wallis is "not an ill-looking man" in "Persuasion"?
In Jane Austen's Persuasion, when explaining the backstory of the estranged cousin Mr. Elliot , who is seeking a reconcilliation, we are given this description of a friend of Mr. Elliot:
The ...
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How does the Crofts' style of driving reflect on their general guidance of affairs?
In Jane Austen's Persuasion, when Anne Elliot is getting a ride with Mrs. and Admiral Croft, she makes this observation about the Crofts' way of driving, and that is may represent a more general ...
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What roles do the minor characters play in 'Of Mice and Men'? [closed]
The minor characters (characters except George and Lennie) highlight the themes of the story (the theme of barriers (freedom and confinement) and the theme of dreams) by creating tension and ...
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Why did the Superintendent compare Smiley to an abbey?
From John Le Carré's Smiley's People:
An abbey, the Superintendent decided. That’s what he was, an abbey. He would work that into his sermon the next time his turn came around. An abbey, made up of ...
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The Call In Leadership and Literature [closed]
Some of the greatest books I have ever read are in the Book of the Dun Cow novel series, where the main character is a rooster in charge who keeps time in the barnyard through his canonical hour crows ...
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Does Mary Bennet undergo any sort of character development in "Pride and Prejudice"?
In Pride and Prejudice, of the five Bennet sisters, the one we see the least of is Mary. (Her name appears fewer than forty times in the whole book.) Mary has a reputation for sitting with her books, ...
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Are Thomas Bernhard's (highly critical) opinions of other German/Austrian authors in "Extinction" his own?
I've been reading "Extinction" (Auslöschung) by Bernhard, in which the main character (Franz-Josef Murau) expounds, highly critically, on Goethe, Thomas Mann, Musil, etc. All of them are ...
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Why does Percival Everett change the relationship of Carolyn Bryant and J W Milam in The Trees?
The character Granny C in Percival Everett's The Trees represents an aged Carolyn Bryant, the woman whose dubious claim that Emmett Till whistled at her led to his brutal murder. In real life, the men ...
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Why is Reepicheep so heroic?
Reepicheep the Talking Mouse is probably the most courageous and valiant character in the entire Narnia series. Many times, in the books where he appears (Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn ...
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In Patchett's 'Commonwealth', why doesn't Spencer tell Fix about Beverly's affair?
Here is a follow-up to my previous question about Ann Patchett's Commonwealth. I'm unclear about Dick Spencer's role in concealing the affair that Bert Cousins is having with Beverly Keating.
Spencer ...
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In The Master and Margarita, who is Koroviev and what is the nature of his sin?
This question involves minor spoilers for The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov.
Koroviev is one of Woland's entourage, and ostensibly serves as his translator. However, unlike the other characters ...
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Greek Alexander Romance - Plot device or other function of Alexander's surreptitious stealing of Persian drinking cups?
In one of the more common form factors of the Greek Alexander Romance (by Pseudo-Callisthenes), we have this passage, located in Book II, 15:
As they began to drink more deeply, Alexander had an idea:...
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When did Ja'far ibn Yahya start being portrayed as an evil vizier?
Ja'far ibn Yahya or Ja'far al-Barmaki was an 8th century vizier of the caliph Harun al-Rashid. From a distinguished central Asian family, he was known for his knowledge of science, as well as his ...
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Who is Mrs LeFay in "The Magician's Nephew"?
In The Magician’s Nephew, Andrew refers to his godmother, Mrs LeFay, who gave him the powder he used to make the rings. Other than this and a reference to her possessing "fairy blood", ...
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Is Emma's preoccupation with class and station typical of the time period or an aspect of her character?
In Jane Austen's Emma, the titular character is shown to spend a lot of time and effort thinking about class, rank, and station in society. She's worried about mixing with the lower classes, and ...
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What character traits define Ibsen’s Brand?
(I am not asking this for a school assignment. I’m not in school.)
I have not read Brand carefully. I want an introductory sense of if the content of the play accords with my understanding so far.
I ...
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Who is the protagonist and antagonist in the myth of Creation of Seasons by Dene?
I am a high school student who has to do a presentation on a myth. I have to explain the details of the myth such as the plot, conflict etc. It is very straightforward. Here is the myth.
There are 2 &...
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What is the significance of the ending of this short story "In the Wheels"?
The short story "In the Wheels" (available in full at that link, perhaps a 10-15 minute read) is mostly about car racing with a speculative-fiction twist, but there's a surprising (to me) ...
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Does Nick love Gatsby?
I recently asked this question: What is the significance of Nick being gay in the Great Gatsby?
In the time before I got an answer I arrived to a conclusion similar to what answerer (@Peter Shor) did. ...
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Jordan's line about intimate parties in The Great Gatsby?
“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”
When I read this quote from Jordan Baker I was (and am) puzzled as to the meaning. It seems like ...
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What is the significance of Nick being gay in The Great Gatsby?
On Literature SE there seems to be a general consensus that in the Great Gatsby the narrator, Nick Carraway, is gay (or at the very least sexually ambiguous).
What does "the master's body&...
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In Outer Dark, is the Tinker a good man?
He finds the infant and seems to want to take care of it. On the other hand, when we later encounter the child, it shows signs of grievous injury that it seems must have occurred (or probably) while ...
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In the Great Gatsby does Gatsby want Daisy because he is obsessed with wealth/prestige or does he want wealth because he is obsessed with Daisy?
At some points throughout the novel Daisy is objectified or otherwise synonymized with money (such as when her voice was described to be full of money). This, coupled with Gatsby's clear ambition from ...
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Where is it indicated that Charlotte has difficulty choosing between Albert and Werther?
I read The Sorrows of Young Werther for my literature class (our translation was from Corngold and its title substituted "Sufferings" for "Sorrows", but it's the same story). For a ...
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Inspiration behind Harlan Page Hasley’s depiction of old sleuth with superhuman strength
What inspired the author to portray a dime novel detective old sleuth as someone who possessed superhuman strength?
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History of Nick carter’s villain Dr Quartz’s creation
What inspired the creation of Nick Carter's villain Dr. Quartz? He is described to be an evil vivisectionist so smart that he is versed in every branch of science and usually enjoys cutting women’s ...
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The Glass Menagerie: Laura's fate
Is the ending of The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams) tragic for Laura? The tragedy of Tom is plain to see; he is out living his dream but cannot enjoy a second of it because of his overwhelming ...
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Why does Georgia connect so well with the clown's song?
In Alice Oseman's Loveless, after several failed scenes where Georgia has difficulty acting romantic roles, Pip gets her to try being the clown in Twelfth Night. This goes swimmingly:
"Come away,...
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Satan's motivation in Paradise Lost
In Paradise Lost, Milton gave an explicit motivation for Satan's rebellion against God. All the angels were called the sons of God and thought of themselves as such, but then God called all the angels ...
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In "To Have and Have Not", what is Harry Morgan's motivation to betray the Chinese immigrants?
Having just reread Hemingway's novel To Have and Have Not, I'm fuzzy on the protagonist's motive for his betrayal of the Chinese immigrants. It's not hard to understand why this former cop has turned ...
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Does Faustus start with heroic dignity?
Does Faustus start out with heroic dignity in Christopher Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus? Does he lose this dignity with his tragic error of making a terrible deal with the Devil?
I came across an exam ...
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Why is Hedda unable to free herself from the constraints of domesticity, while Thea is able to?
In Hedda Gabler, there exists the character foil of Hedda and Thea. Both of the characters have entered into marriages which have inhibited them from forming a 'free' sense of self and which reduce ...
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Is a book featuring a non-self aware Mary Sue automatically considered to be poor quality?
Is a book where the main character fulfills all of the criteria for being a Mary Sue, and where the trope is played straight rather than for illustrative or satirical purposes (for example, the ...
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How could the old woman's lover become rich, if it goes against the play's comic project?
I just finished reading Pluto by Aristophanes.
The comic project of the play is to obtain a more fair distribution of richness which is at the beginning given only to dishonest people (or to people ...
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What does the name "Hodel" mean?
In Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story "The Primper", Adele's real name is "Hodel":
Her two sisters and three brothers married in due time, but she, Adele - her real name was ...
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Why does Odysseus decide to leave without Philoktetes?
I am reading James Scully's translation of Philoktetes (also known as Philoctetes), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. At one point, after getting ...
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Did P.G. Wodehouse ever parody Rex Stout?
An acquaintance with a silly nickname rings to beg that the narrator take his place at a charity dinner put on by his aunt.
That summary could describe the beginnings of several Bertie Wooster stories ...
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What do the names of Yasha's animals in "The Magician of Lublin" say about him?
In Isaac Bashevis Singer's The Magician of Lublin, our main character Yasha named his horses "Kara" and "Shiva", and refers to them as "Dust" and "Ashes:
He need ...
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How did Henchard change after the auction incident?
In the novel The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, how was Henchard a changed person after the auction incident?
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"The Rocking Horse Winner" Characterization
I'm trying to analyze the characters Basset, Oscar, Hester, and Paul in D.H. Lawrence's short story "The Rocking Horse Winner", to know which ones are round characters and which ones are ...
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