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In fiction, a character is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). [1] [2] [3] The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in which case the distinction of a "fictional" versus "real" character may be made. [2]
Theatre or theater [a] is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage.
The history of theatre charts the development of theatre over the past 2,500 years. While performative elements are present in every society, it is customary to acknowledge a distinction between theatre as an art form and entertainment, and theatrical or performative elements in other activities. The history of theatre is primarily concerned ...
Stock characters from Commedia dell'Arte — which gave each character a standard costume, so easily identifiable — continued across many types of theater, dramatic storytelling, and fiction. A stock character is a dramatic or literary character representing a generic type in a conventional, simplified manner and recurring in many fictional ...
Rome was founded as a monarchy under Etruscan rule, and remained as such throughout the first two and a half centuries of its existence. Following the expulsion of Rome's last king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, or "Tarquin the Proud," circa 509 BC, Rome became a republic and was henceforth led by a group of magistrates elected by the Roman people.
A central aspect of theatre of the absurd is the deliberate contradiction between language and action. Often, the dialogue between characters starkly contrasts with their actions. Prominent playwrights within this genre include Samuel Beckett, Jean-Paul Sartre, Eugène Ionesco, Arthur Adamov, and Jean Genet. [9]
The term characterization was introduced in the 19th century. [3] Aristotle promoted the primacy of plot over characters, that is, a plot-driven narrative, arguing in his Poetics that tragedy "is a representation, not of men, but of action and life."
Outside the theatre medium, some novels also have a dramatis personae at the beginning or end. This is most common in books with very large casts of characters, as well as children's books and speculative fiction. [citation needed] For example, the opening pages of Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air contain a dramatis personae.