literature characterization

Characterization

literature characterization

Characterization Definition

What is characterization? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Characterization is the representation of the traits, motives, and psychology of a character in a narrative. Characterization may occur through direct description, in which the character's qualities are described by a narrator, another character, or by the character him or herself. It may also occur indirectly, in which the character's qualities are revealed by his or her actions, thoughts, or dialogue.

Some additional key details about characterization:

  • Early studies of literature, such as those by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, saw plot as more important than character. It wasn't until the 15th century that characters, and therefore characterization, became more crucial parts of narratives.
  • Characterization became particularly important in the 19th century, with the rise of realist novels that sought to accurately portray people.

Characterization Pronunciation

Here's how to pronounce characterization: kar-ack-ter-ih- zey -shun

Direct and Indirect Characterization

Authors can develop characterization in two ways: directly and indirectly. It's important to note that these two methods are not mutually exclusive. Most authors can and do use both direct and indirect methods of characterization to develop their characters.

Direct Characterization

In direct characterization, the author directly describes a character's qualities. Such direct description may come from a narrator, from another character, or through self-description by the character in question. For instance, imagine the following dialogue between two characters:

"That guy Sam seems nice." "Oh, no. Sam's the worst. He acts nice when you first meet him, but then he'll ask you for money and never return it, and eat all your food without any offering anything in return, and I once saw him throw a rock at a puppy. Thank God he missed."

Here the second speaker is directly characterizing Sam as being selfish and cruel. Direct characterization is also sometimes called "explicit characterization."

Indirect Characterization

In indirect characterization, rather than explicitly describe a character's qualities, an author shows the character as he or she moves through the world, allowing the reader to infer the character's qualities from his or her behavior. Details that might contribute to the indirect characterization of a character are:

  • The character's thoughts.
  • The character's actions.
  • What a character says (their choice of words)
  • How a character talks (their tone, dialect, and manner of speaking)
  • The character's appearance
  • The character's movements and mannerisms
  • How the character interacts with others (and how others react to the character)

Indirect characterization is sometimes called "implicit characterization."

Indirect Characterization in Drama

It's worth noting that indirect characterization has an additional layer in any art form that involves actors, including film, theater, and television. Actors don't just say the words on the script. They make choices about how to say those words, how to move their own bodies and in relation to other character. In other words, actors make choices about how to communicate all sorts of indirect details. As a result, different actors can portray the same characters in vastly different ways.

For instance, compare the way that the the actor Alan Bates plays King Claudius in this play-within-a-play scene from the 1990 movie of Hamlet, versus how Patrick Stewart plays the role in the same scene from a 2010 version. While Bates plays the scene with growing alarm and an outburst of terror that reveals his guilt, Stewart plays his Claudius as ice cold and offended, but by no means tricked by Hamlet's little play-within-a-play into revealing anything.

Round and Flat Characters

Characters are often described as being either round or flat.

  • Round characters : Are complex, realistic, unique characters.
  • Flat characters : Are one-dimensional characters, with a single overarching trait and otherwise limited personality or individuality.

Whether a character is round or flat depends on their characterization. In some cases, an author may purposely create flat characters, particularly if those characters will appear only briefly and only for a specific purpose. A bully who appears in a single scene of a television show, for instance, might never get or need more characterization than the fact that they act like a bully.

But other times authors may create flat characters unintentionally when round characters were necessary, and such characters can render a narrative dull, tensionless, and unrealistic.

Character Archetypes

Some types of characters appear so often in narratives that they come to seen as archetypes —an original, universal model of which each particular instance is a kind of copy. The idea of the archetype was first proposed by the psychologist Carl Jung, who proposed that there were twelve fundamental "patterns" that define the human psyche. He defined these twelve archetypes as the:

While many have disagreed with the idea that any such twelve patterns actually psychologically define people, the idea of archetypes does hold a lot of sway among both those who develop and analyze fictional characters. In fact, another way to define round and flat character is to think about them as they relate to archetypes:

  • Flat characters are easy to define by a single archetype, and they do not have unique personal backgrounds, traits, or psychology that differentiates them from that archetype in a meaningful way.
  • Round characters may have primary aspects that fit with a certain archetype, but they also may be the combination of several archetypes and also have unique personal backgrounds, behaviors, and psychologies that make them seem like individuals even as they may be identifiable as belonging to certain archetypes.

Good characterization often doesn't involve an effort to avoid archetype altogether—archetypes are archetypes, after all, because over human history they've proved to be excellent subjects for stories. But successful authors will find ways to make their characters not just archetypes. They might do so by playing with or subverting archetypes in order to create characters who are unexpected or new, or more generally create characters whose characterization makes them feel so unique and individual that their archetype feels more like a framework or background rather than the entirety of who that character is.

Characterization Examples

The characters of nearly every story—whether in literature, film, or any other narrative—have some characterization. Here are some examples of different types of characterization.

Characterization in Hamlet

The famous literary critic Harold Bloom has argued in his book The Invention of the Human that "Personality, in our sense, is a Shakespearean invention." Whether or not you agree with that, there's no doubting that Shakespeare was a master of characterization. One way he achieved such characterization was through his characters delivering soliloquies . The excerpt of a soliloquy below is from Hamlet , in which Hamlet considers suicide:

To be, or not to be? That is the question— Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep— No more—and by a sleep to say we end The heartache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to—’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished! To die, to sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause.

Hamlet's soliloquy is not simply him saying what he thinks. As he delivers the soliloquy, he discovers what he thinks. When he says "To die, to sleep. To sleep," he is all-in on the idea that suicide is the right course. His words "perchance to dream" flow directly out of his thoughts about death as being like "sleep." And with his positive thoughts of death as sleep, when he first says "perchance to dream" he's thinking about having good dreams. But as he says the words he realizes they are deeper than he originally thought, because in that moment he realizes that he doesn't actually know what sort of dreams he might experience in death—they might be terrible, never-ending nightmares. And suddenly the flow of his logic leaves him stuck.

In showing a character experiencing his own thoughts the way that real people experience their thoughts, not as a smooth flow but as ideas that spark new and different and unexpected ideas, Shakespeare gives Hamlet a powerful humanity as a character. By giving Hamlet a soliloquy on the possible joy of suicide he further captures Hamlet's current misery and melancholy. And in showing how much attention Hamlet pays to the detail of his logic, he captures Hamlet's rather obsessive nature. In other words, in just these 13 lines Shakespeare achieves a great deal of characterization.

Characterization in The Duchess of Malfi

In his play the The Duchess of Malfi , John Webster includes an excellent example of direct characterization. In this speech, the character Antonio tells his friend about Duke Ferdinand:

The Duke there? A most perverse and turbulent nature; What appears in him mirth is merely outside. If he laugh heartily, it is to laugh All honesty out of fashion. … He speaks with others' tongues, and hears men's suits With others' ears; will seem to sleep o’th' bench Only to entrap offenders in their answers; Dooms men to death by information, Rewards by hearsay.

Ferdinand directly describes the Duke as deceitful, perverse, and wild, and as a kind of hollow person who only ever laughs for show. It is a devastating description, and one that turns out to be largely accurate.

Characterization in The Great Gatsby

Here's another example of direct characterization, this time from The Great Gatsby . Here, Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, describes Tom and Daisy Buchanan near the end of the novel.

They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.

But The Great Gatsby, like essentially all other literature, doesn't solely rely on direct characterization. Here is Nick, earlier in the novel, describing Gatsby:

He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.

This is an example of indirect characterization. Nick isn't describing Gatsby character directly, instead he's describing how Gatsby is behaving, what Gatsby is doing. But that physical description—Gatsby reaching out with trembling arms toward a distant and mysterious green light—communicates fundamental aspects of Gatsby's character: his overwhelming yearning and desire, and perhaps also the fragility inherent such yearning.

Why Do Writers Use Characterization?

Characterization is a crucial aspect of any narrative literature, for the simple reason that complex, interesting characters are vital to narrative literature. Writers therefore use the techniques of characterization to develop and describe characters':

  • Motivations
  • History and background
  • Interests and desires
  • Skills and talents
  • Self-conception, quirks, and neuroses

Such characteristics in turn make characters seem realistic and also help to drive the action of the plot, as a plot is often defined by the clash of actions and desires of its various characters.

Other Helpful Characterization Resources

  • Wikipedia entry on characterization: A brief but thorough entry.
  • Archetypal characters: The website TV tropes has built a vast compendium of different archetypal characters that appear in film and television (and by extension to books).
  • Encyclopedia Britannica on characters: A short entry on flat and round characters.

The printed PDF version of the LitCharts literary term guide on Characterization

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characterization

What is characterization definition, usage, and literary examples, characterization definition.

Characterization  (care-ack-tur-ih-ZEY-shun) uses context and detail to reveal something about a character. In literature, characterization is expressed directly and indirectly through physical descriptions, dialogue, characters’ inner thoughts, and actions. These details reveal characters’ behavior, psychology, personality, and motive.

Character hasn’t always been central to stories.  Plot -driven  narratives  dominated literature prior to the 19th century.  Realism , a literary movement that emerged in the mid-1800s, prized authenticity and verisimilitude, emphasizing genuine depictions of people as a critical aspect to plot and narrative. Characterization remains significant to this day.

Direct and Indirect Characterization

Writers can convey characterization directly or indirectly, and they tend to use both methods to achieve fully realized and developed characters.

Direct Characterization

Direct characterization is explicit. It is commonly achieved through description and dialogue, in which the narrator or one character explicitly attributes traits or qualities to another.

In this example from Charles Dickens’s  Great Expectations , protagonist Pip describes his brother-in-law:

She was not a good-looking woman, my sister; and I had a general impression that she must have made Joe Gargery marry her by hand. Joe was a fair man, with curls of flaxen hair on each side of his smooth face, and with eyes of such a very undecided blue that they seemed to have somehow got mixed with their own whites. He was a mild, good-natured, sweet-tempered, easy-going, foolish, dear fellow—a sort of Hercules in strength, and also in weakness.

Pip explicitly describes Joe’s physical appearance and temperament: He is fair in complexion and personality, good-natured, sweet-tempered, and easygoing but also naïve. This provides a strong foundation for readers to visualize and understand Joe as a character.

Indirect Characterization

Indirect characterization is implied; readers must infer character on their own through contextual clues. Thoughts, actions, speech patterns, appearance, mannerisms, clothing—all these can inform character.

In this excerpt from E.B. White’s  Charlotte’s Web , Fern’s father just departed for the hog house with an ax:

“I don’t see why he needs an ax,” continued Fern, who was only eight.
“Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.”
“Do  away  with it?” shrieked Fern. “You mean  kill  it? Just because it’s smaller than the others?”

Fern lacks the life experience to realize the pragmatism in her father’s actions. While White doesn’t explicitly call Fern naïve, it’s implied through the mention of her age. Her surge of moral outrage also suggests a strong sense of justice and empathy.

Characterization and Character Types

Characterization often depends on character type, as different types fulfill certain roles in a story.

A protagonist is a major character; their arc drives the plot. Protagonists often exemplify positive or heroic traits, like  Harry Potter , who is courageous, perseverant, and has a strong sense of justice. Antiheroes are a type of protagonist who lack those heroic qualities; they often defy conventional ethics or exhibit dubious or gray morality. Rodion Raskolnikov from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s  Crime and Punishment  is an antihero.

Antagonists tend to embody negative traits, like Harry Potter’s nemesis Lord Voldemort, who is arrogant, cruel, and utterly lacking in empathy. Antagonists are often foils—characters whose personality traits clash with the protagonist’s. Readers can discern much about characterization through that contrast.

Here are other character types that affect characterization.

  • Round characters  are crucial to the narrative; they are richly characterized and demonstrate a variety of personality traits. Round characters tend to be dynamic: They encounter  conflict  and affect change, and they transform in response to those experiences.
  • Flat characters  are secondary and incidental. Because they exert little influence over the plot, they are less developed and tend to exhibit a single personality trait.
  • Archetypal characters represent patterns in human experience. Readers can easily identify them because they recur throughout literature. The mentor is a common fictional archetype; they guide and support the protagonist using their wisdom and life experience. Gandalf the Grey from J.R.R. Tolkien’s  The Lord of the Rings  series is a classic mentor character.
  • Stock characters have become conventional or stereotypical through repeated use in literature. They are like archetypal characters but generally flat and one-dimensional. They are often caricatures who embody ideals (the noble savage) or flaws (the village idiot).
  • Dynamic characters transform after encountering conflict or other narrative action. A protagonist who starts off lonely and isolated will likely find a sense of community and belonging by the story’s end.
  • Static characters remain unchanged throughout the story. Joe Gargery, mentioned above, is a static character. His good nature holds steadfast even when faced with injustice and cruelty.

The Functions of Characterization

Characterization breathes life into a story by making characters more dynamic and engaging. Good characterization is often realistic, meaning characters act in a way that’s authentic to the human experience. They make choices, feel emotions, and display reactions that reflect real life. These expressions of humanity make them more interesting and relatable to the reader.

Writers also use characterization to show development. Just as people change with age and experience, characters change in tandem with the plot. As a protagonist moves through the  narrative , encountering and reacting to other characters, settings, and situations, they transform. This mirrors how a person can grow in the real world and emphasizes the sense of progression from a story’s beginning to its end.

Characterization can also show cause and effect or incite action. Take Samwise Gamgee, companion and servant to Frodo Baggins in  The Lord of the Rings . Sam embodies the sidekick archetype. He’s loyal to a fault, and that devotion leads him on a quest across Middle Earth despite enormous peril and a dim chance of survival. Even when Frodo falters, Sam persists. His incredible fidelity and strength of will ensure the quest’s success.

Characterization in Other Media

Where literature is bound by words and characterization must build through sentences or even paragraphs, visual media can express it easily through visual cues. Scenery, staging, wardrobe, makeup, props, and the like are all carefully designed to convey a specific message or idea.

In short, there’s an immediacy to visual storytelling as several details are presented at once. A character enters the scene, and viewers can immediately discern several facts or make judgments based on observation.

Consider villains from Disney’s animated films, like Cruella Deville, Ursula, Maleficent, Hades, Jafar—the list goes on. They come in all shapes and sizes, but they share common design attributes that clearly suggest their evil, scheming personalities: thin eyebrows, sharp cheekbones, narrow noses, angular eyes, and dark clothes.

Examples of Characterization in Literature

1. Philip Pullman,  The Golden Compass

Pullman’s fantasy children series—some consider it a response to  The Chronicles of Narnia —follows protagonist Lyra Belacqua as she opposes and tries to overthrow a corrupt theocracy. In this scene, Lyra has just overheard a plot to kill her uncle, Lord Asriel, while she is hidden in a wardrobe. She observes her uncle as he enters the room:

Then Lord Asriel stood up and turned away from the fire. She saw him fully, and marveled at the contrast he made with the plump Butler, the stooped and languid Scholars. Lord Asriel was a tall man with powerful shoulders, a fierce dark face, and eyes that seemed to flash and glitter with savage laughter. It was a face to be dominated by, or to fight: never a face to patronize or pity. All his movements were large and perfectly balanced, like those of a wild animal, and when he appeared in a room like this, he seemed a wild animal held in a cage too small for it.

This passage demonstrates both direct and indirect characterization. While other characters are plump, stooped, and languid, Lord Asriel stands tall with powerful shoulders and a dominating countenance. His fierce face, flashing eyes and savage laughter suggest a cold personality and keen intelligence. He might even possess a violent streak, which is supported by the comparison to a wild animal.

2. Tennessee Williams,  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

One of Williams’s most famous works, this play portrays a family in crisis. Early in Act I comes a scene that gives a taste of the dynamic between Brick and his wife Maggie:

BRICK: I’ve dropped my crutch.
[ He has stopped rubbing his hair dry but still stands hanging onto the towel rack in a white towel-cloth robe. ]
MARGARET: Lean on me.
BRICK: No, just give me my crutch.
MARGARET: Lean on my shoulder.
BRICK: I don’t want your shoulder, I want my crutch!
[ This is spoken like sudden lightning. ]

MARGARET: Here, here, take it, take it!

This scene’s indirect characterization sheds a light on Brick and Maggie’s personalities as well as their marriage. Brick’s sudden and emphatic rejection of Maggie’s support shows his mercurial mood and indifference toward his wife; he’d rather cling to a towel rack than accept her touch. Maggie, however, is determined to support her husband and keep the peace—expressed through her repeated line, “Lean on me,” and frenzied capitulation to his demands.

3. Charlotte Perkins Gillman,  The Yellow Wallpaper

This feminist short story details a woman’s descent into madness as she begins to obsess over and fear the wallpaper in her bedroom. The narrator presents her story in a series of diary entries. This passage from the first entry explains why the narrator and her husband have moved into a colonial mansion for the summer:

John is a physician, and  perhaps —(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind)— perhaps  that is one reason I do not get well faster.
You see, he does not believe I am sick!
And what can one do?
If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do?
My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing.
So I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to “work” until I am well again.
Personally, I disagree with their ideas.
Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.
But what is one to do?

The reader is told very little about the narrator, but her diary provides a wealth of indirect characterization. This passage reveals that she feels dismissed by her husband, who does not take her illness seriously. She’s skeptical of the treatment he prescribes but feels she has no voice to advocate for her own health and wellbeing. So, she uses writing to express her frustrations, free of his judgment.

Further Resources on Characterization

TVTropes features an extensive list of  common character tropes .

Writers seeking to flesh out their characters might benefit from these free  character development worksheets  by Dr. Victoria Lynn Schmidt.

The Writing Cooperative  provides a lesson on creating and developing authentic characters.

Related Terms

  • Flat character
  • Round character
  • Stock character

literature characterization

Literary Devices

Literary devices, terms, and elements, characterization, definition of characterization.

Characterization is the act of creating and describing characters in literature. Characterization includes both descriptions of a character’s physical attributes as well as the character’s personality. The way that characters act, think, and speak also adds to their characterization. There are two subsets of the definition of characterization: direct and indirect characterization. We explore this distinction in more depth below.

Direct Versus Indirect Characterization

Direct characterization, also known as explicit characterization, consists of the author telling the audience what a character is like. A narrator may give this information, or a character in the story may do it. Examples of direct characterization would be:

  • “Bill was short and fat, and his bald spot was widening with every passing year.”
  • “‘Jane is a cruel person,’ she said.’”
  • “I looked in the mirror and saw how dark the circles under my green eyes had become.”

Indirect characterization, on the other hand, consists of the author showing the audience what kind of person a character is through the character’s thoughts, words, and deeds. This requires the audience to make inferences about why a character would say or do those things. This type of characterization is also known as implicit characterization. While it takes more time to develop a character through indirect characterization, it often leaves a deeper impression on the reader than direct statements about what a character is like. Here are examples of indirect characterization:

  • “Bill sighed as he looked at the offer of a gym membership. He really should join. But just thinking about it made beads of sweat collect at the top of his bald spot.”
  • “As Jane walked past the box labeled ‘Free Puppies,’ she furtively glanced around her, then gave the box a swift kick.”
  • “I yawned, trying to keep my eyes open in the meeting. I reached for my coffee cup and was disappointed to realize it was empty.”

Common Examples of Characterization

While the concept of characterization is primarily a literary device, we use characterization in many everyday situations as well. Consider the following situations:

  • Online dating websites : This is a primary place for direct characterizations of ourselves. We put up pictures and data to describe our looks, and we answer questions and write essays to describe our personalities.
  • Police line-ups : Witnesses to crimes use characterization to give police a better idea of who the culprits might be. This type of characterization is generally based on physical attributes, though detectives also may try to understand the psychology of a criminal to catch him or her.
  • Obituaries and eulogies : When a person has died, their loved ones use characterization to give a sense of what kind of person he or she was. This is primarily to show personality.

Significance of Characterization in Literature

As a literary tool, characterization has been around for about the past five hundred years. That may sound like a long time, but considering that Ancient Greek tragedies date back a few thousand years, characterization is a relatively recent development. This is because older forms of literature, including Ancient Greek tragedies, were much more focused on plot.

Characterization increased in popularity as scholars began to consider psychology as a scientific field, especially from the 19 th century onwards. People became much more interested in why people do things and the way in which they react instead of just what happens. Literature has reflected this shift. However, that is not to say that works written before the 19 th century had a lack of characterization. William Shakespeare writing in the late 16 th and early 17 th centuries created some of the most psychologically complex characters ever. It is simply a much more integral part of the storytelling process now.

Works of literature with poor characterization are often criticized for having “stock characters,” “flat characters,” “characters with no dimensions,” “poorly drawn characters,” and so on. Saying that a book’s characters are unbelievable is one of the worst criticisms that it made in this day in age. Authors therefore use characterization to “flesh out” their characters, show the characters’ motivations, and make the reader have empathy with the characters.

Examples of Characterization in Literature

Cathy was chewing a piece of meat, chewing with her front teeth. Samuel had never seen anyone chew that way before. And when she had swallowed, her little tongue flicked around her lips. Samuel’s mind repeated, “Something—something—can’t find what it is. Something wrong,” and the silence hung on the table.

( East of Eden by John Steinbeck)

In John Steinbeck’s East of Eden , Cathy is a truly evil character. Steinbeck says this directly many times over and in many different ways. However, in this example of characterization, Steinbeck instead opts for a more chilling image. Cathy seems to eat meat much as a snake would. The indirect characterization forces the reader to understand this passage as an allusion to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, thereby inferring Cathy’s deep-rooted sinfulness.

“First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

( To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

This quote from Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is another example of indirect characterization. Atticus is a very compassionate character who is able to extend his empathy to every member of the community. We learn about the true nobility of his character through his actions, in defending a man no one else will believe is innocent, and through the strength of his words. This quote quite famously captures his facility for empathy.

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

(“ Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare)

Shakespeare has fun with characterization in his famous “Sonnet 130,” going against all expectations. Since this poem is about his mistress, one might expect that it would be full of praise. Instead, he describes her only in the most unappealing ways and compares her to lovely things only to show that she is the opposite. This is an example of direct characterization.

Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley’s, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.

( Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling)

This characterization example from the first book of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series gives a very complete physical description of Harry. It is very common in children’s books and books for young adults to give such a detailed direct characterization of many of the main characters. This is because children have a harder time inferring all the information necessary about a character through words and actions alone.

Test Your Knowledge of Characterization

1. Choose the correct characterization definition from the following statements: A. A list of characters in a work of literature. B. Creating characters through descriptions of their looks and personalities, as well as what they think, say, and do. C. The act of making characters seem different than they really are.

2. Which of the following quotes about or by Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is an example of indirect characterization? A. 

Besides that, he wore glasses. He was nearly blind in his left eye, and said left eyes were the tribal curse of the Finches. Whenever he wanted to see something well, he turned his head and looked from his right eye.
“It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.”

— Scout Finch C. 

“This time we aren’t fighting the Yankees, we’re fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they’re still our friends and this is still our home.”

— Atticus Finch

3. Is the following line from Steinbeck’s East of Eden an example of direct or indirect characterization?

Nearly everyone preferred Aron with his golden hair and the openness that allowed his affection to plunge like a puppy.

A. Direct B. Indirect C. Both

  • Literary Terms
  • Characterization
  • Definition & Examples
  • When & How to Use Characterization

I. What is Characterization?

Characterization is a writer’s tool, or “literary device” that occurs any time the author uses details to teach us about a person. This is used over the course of a story in order to tell the tale.

Aristotle first defined characterization in the 15 th century, speaking of the importance of plot over character in Poetics , “ Tragedy is representation, not of men, but of action and life.” What he means here is that “tragedy” (or drama, meaning a story) is not centered on the thoughts, and histories, and dreams of the characters . The story is centered on what happens to them (the plot), so writers employ characterization to relay information about those thoughts, histories, and dreams, without drifting away from the action.

II. Examples of Characterization

The way a character speaks can inform us of their background and personality, like how educated they are, or what they consider to be important. Even the way other characters speak to and about our characters is a form of characterization.

In the Harry Potter series, Dobby refers to Potter as “the noble Harry Potter,” or “good Harry Potter,” which shows us how the house elf adores the young wizard. It might also be a hint of how Dobby would show affection for other people he admires.

The way a character reacts to a certain scene also teaches us about them. For example, a character who snubs a beggar has is different from a character who opens their wallet and hands over a wad of hundreds, and still there are more differences from a character who works directly with the homeless population in a city. Characterization can happen in many, many ways.

III. Types of Characterization

A. direct/explicit.

This is clearly informative, and often uses the narrator, the protagonist, or the character themselves. The narration, “Clara had always been a smug, wicked little princess,” is a form of direct or explicit characterization, as is the line of dialogue, “Nicholas will never stop until he gets what he wants! He’s crazy!”

b. Indirect/Implicit

This more subtle method of characterization relies on you, the reader, to decide for yourself what it means. Indirect or implicit characterization uses behavior, speech, and appearance, as well as the opinions of other characters. Although other characters can be used to make direct characterization (“Nicholas is crazy!”), they can also be used to make indirect characterization about themselves.

Figuring out what it all means is most of the fun, and it’s the reason fans of certain books, shows, and movies can argue about whether or not a certain character is good, or evil, or in love. They’ve interpreted the characterization differently.

c. The Importance of Characterization

Modern storytelling usually emphasizes characterization even more than classical literature. This is because characterization is a major tool in the plot-driven narrative. They can quickly connect the reader to the character, without taking them out of the action. When you’re busy moving characters from one place to another, making things happen to them, it’s clumsy to suddenly stop, get inside of Tom’s head, and drift around with his thoughts for a while. On the other hand, no one is going to truly care about a story if they don’t care about its characters, whether by love or hate or even just amusement or pity.

So, it’s very useful to balance these two areas of development. Plot and character should be developing side by side and rely upon each other, which reflects the human experience. After all, how much of our own “plots” are related to our decisions (our character), and how much of it is totally random and disconnected from what we do?

IV. Characterization in Literature

Many of the most famed manuscripts are beloved for their “strong characters,” which is another way of saying characterization. Harry Potter has already been mentioned and has many beloved characters such as Hermione or Hagrid. From The Great Gatsby to A Christmas Carol , characterization is a major facet of both classical and popular fiction.

In The Great Gatsby , the location of lower upper-class characters (East Egg) compared to the location of upper upper-class characters (West Egg) serves to characterize their financial boundary.

In A Christmas Carol , Scrooge tells a charity collector that, if the poor would rather die (than go to poor-houses), they’d better do it, and “decrease the surplus population.” This line tells us a lot about how Scrooge sees both other people and his own good fortune.

V. Examples of Characterization in Pop Culture

Characterization, like many elements of storytelling technique, is an invisible tool to most casual readers. Many craft books and classes are devoted to the subject; they help build and portray strong, flawed, and realistic characters. The main source of characterization in pop culture comes from writers, actors, directors, and other types of artists that create scripts or skits. These mediums usually help the actors form the characters seen in plays, movies, TV shows, and other similar mediums. Here are a few examples:

Even Progressive commercials, which use the recurring salesperson Flo, could be said to use this skill.

Janice Bought a House | Progressive Insurance Commercial

Comedians can be said to use characterization for their stage personalities, because of its intentionally staged format, which details a certain personality. Comedians like Jeff Dunham actually create multiple characters. Using his ventriloquist skills and characterization, he jokes about different subjects relevant to the character.

In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, we see best-known movie characters that is a product of characterization. In the excerpt from the movie, his monologue introduces us to him, his opinions, and his plan of skipping school. More than likely, the monologue was scripted this way in order to give the audience an idea of the main character and what’s to come.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Opening Monologue

Keep in mind that although sometimes real people may seem like fictional characters—for example, rock stars or those on reality television—they are not agents of characterization unless they are being featured in a written work, such as in a magazine article, or a biographical book or film. Only in this scenario would the artist then use characterization to show personality in a manner which does not detract from the narrative (plot) itself.

VI. Related Terms

Flat, or unidimensional.

These terms are used to criticize characters who are poorly characterized, or poorly developed. Oftentimes, they speak in ways that don’t sound realistic, and are considered to be stereotypes . For example, the busy housewife could easily be called unidimensional. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have characters who seem to be stereotypes, but it does mean that they need to not be stereotypes upon closer examination. Perhaps the busy housewife loves to blow off steam with hiking and camping, instead of with a “spa day” that might just reinforce the stereotype.

Coined by Carl Jung, this refers to a set of twelve character types which (supposedly) exist across cultural boundaries and eras of time. Many writers consult these archetypes , but don’t rely on them alone. The twelves archetypes are: the Hero, the Caregiver, the Explorer, the Rebel, the Lover, the Creator, the Jester, the Innocent, the Sage, the Magician, the Orphan, and the Ruler.

VII. Conclusion

Characterization is one of the main building blocks of fiction today, no matter what genre or media the story uses. Anything that teaches the audience about your character is characterization, but the most common methods are through concrete action, dialogue, description, and the actions, thoughts, and words of the other characters in regards to the characterized character.

List of Terms

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  • APA Citation
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  • Juxtaposition
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  • Onomatopoeia
  • Parallelism
  • Pathetic Fallacy
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  • Point of View
  • Polysyndeton
  • Protagonist
  • Red Herring
  • Rhetorical Device
  • Rhetorical Question
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What is Characterization — A Guide to Character Building

  • Scriptwriting

What is Characterization — A Guide to Character Building

  • Types of Characters in a Story
  • Protagonist
  • Deuteragonist
  • Tragic Hero
  • Tritagonist
  • Anti-Villain
  • Foil Character
  • Common Character Types
  • Character Archetypes
  • Types of Villains
  • Femme Fatale
  • Mad Scientist
  • Damsel in Distress
  • What is Characterization
  • Characterization Examples in Movies
  • Characterization of Anton Chigurh Explained
  • Direct Characterization
  • Indirect Characterization
  • Round vs. Flat Character
  • Round Character
  • Flat Character
  • Static vs Dynamic Characters
  • What is a Static Character
  • Dynamic Character

H ow do writers make characters into people we can empathize with and understand? One way is through the use of characterization. But what is characterization? We’re going to answer that question by looking at example from Kill Bill , and by listening to the perspective of some of the world’s most foremost writers. But before we get into the examples, let’s review what makes direct characterization different from indirect characterization.

Tools For Screenwriters

Literary devices.

Literary Elements

  • Point of View

Literary Techniques

  • Alliteration
  • Connotation
  • Deus ex Machina
  • Foreshadowing
  • Iambic Pentameter
  • Juxtaposition
  • Onomatopoeia
  • Personification
  • Red Herring

Watch: What is Characterization — 2 Types Explained

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What Does Characterization Mean

Let's define characterization.

What is characterization? Is characterization a literary device ? The most simple explanation is the process of creating a character. In fiction, the writer's job is to build their characters from the ground up — who are they, where are they from, what's their defining qualities, etc. But that doesn't mean that writers of non-fiction or biopics based on real people can ignore this process. 

Before we jump into some examples and the different types, let's define characterization and why it's important.

CHARACTERIZATION DEFINITION

What is characterization.

Characterization is the process through which an artist communicates character to an audience. In writing, characterization is achieved through dialogue, actions, and descriptions. In visual mediums, characterization is still achieved through dialogue, actions, and descriptions, but it can also be achieved through costuming, hair and makeup, etc. The writer and/or director have made a series of decisions of how to present each character to the reader or audience. And so, everything they decide to include in this presentation is part of the characterization.

Types of Characterization:

  • Direct characterization
  • Indirect characterization
  • Third Person Referentia

Writers will often begin using character archetypes as a foundation but build on them with specific and individual layers of characterization. Let's look at the two main methods of how this is done. 

Types of Characterization

Direct vs. indirect characterization.

There are two types of characterization: direct and indirect. These types are almost always used in conjunction to support each other. At the same time, it's important to realize that these types of characterization have their unique values and should be given equal attention when writing.

Direct : How a character appears — their physical appearance and profession.

Characterization Examples  •  Direct Characterization in Goodfellas

We learn a lot about Jimmy’s (Robert De Niro) character just from his physical appearance — his slicked back hair, clean-shaven face, fine-tailored suit, etc. As a result, we’re able to tell that Jimmy is well-put together, or at the very least, he appears to be. 

Indirect : How a character operates — their actions, thoughts, and opinions.

Here’s an example of indirect characterization also from Goodfellas .

Characterization Examples  •  Indirect Characterization in Goodfellas 

In this scene, we learn about Jimmy’s character by what he says and what he does. That's why dialogue and actions are the two most important facets of indirect characterization.

Related Posts

  • What is Character Design in Animation? →
  • Explaining Archetypes — Characters & Symbols →
  • A Writer's Guide to Jungian Archetypes and How They Work →

HOW TO BUILD CHARACTERS

A simple approach to characterization.

It’s a lot easier to utilize characterization than you might think. One way to make sure you cover all the bases of characterization is to think about the acronym S.T.E.A.L. 

  • Speech: What a character says and how they say it; vernacular, accent, etc. 
  • Thoughts: What a character thinks and believes.
  • Effects on Others: How a character interacts with and influences others.
  • Actions: Everything a character does.
  • Looks: How a character looks and appears; clothing, hair, etc.

By using STEAL characterization, you’ll have the basics of characterization covered. However, if you’re going to create complex characters, you’re going to need to develop them beyond the basics. 

What is Characterization Used For in Scripts?

Round vs. flat characters.

Characterization requires knowledge about what type of character you’re writing. And so, characters can be divided into two camps: round and flat .

A round character is deeply realized, with complexities, contradictions, and wants that are evocative of a real person. These characters are usually protagonists or other prominent roles in a film. 

What is Characterization Gollum StudioBinder

Gollum is a round character

A flat character, meanwhile, is a character who lacks these complexities. Instead, they’re two-dimensional, with just one or two character traits which define them. Usually, these characters aren't the lead, and if they are, that might be a problem.

What is Characterization C PO StudioBinder

C-3PO: flat and loveable

A round character usually means much more characterization. Usually, this characterization continues throughout a film. There’s so much ground to cover.

What is Characterization in Screenwriting?

What's characterization in screenwriting.

What are some considerations writers have with characterization in screenwriting ? This process can be achieved through many different methods in screenwriting — but the first, and arguably most important aspect of building a character, is their first description. 

In proper screenwriting format , whenever a new character is introduced in a screenplay, their name is written in all caps, along with a brief description of their physical appearance.

The first description is meant to give us an essential aspect of character. We imported the Kill Bill: Vol. 1 script into StudioBinder’s screenwriting software to take a closer look at how Quentin Tarantino introduces characters.

What is Characterization Kill Bill Examples StudioBinder Screenwriting Software

What’s Characterization to Tarantino?  •   Read the Kill Bill Screenplay

As you can see, The Bride’s introduction in the Kill Bill screenplay is clear. We’re shown who she is, what she’s doing, and where she might be going. But introductions are just one part of building a character — without development, characters will feel hollow. 

Let's watch the scene for more context.

Characterization Examples  •  Introducing the Bride

It’s taboo to write in a character’s internal thoughts/feelings into a screenplay. Therefore, you must use actions and dialogue to communicate how a character feels. Say a character is angry. You can’t just write “my character is angry.”

Characterization is one of the most important facets of storytelling. Perhaps it’s trite to say, but without characters we care about, a story collapses under its own weight. By utilizing S.T.E.A.L. and by heeding Tarantino you’ll be ready to build/develop complex characters.

Write stronger characters

There’s a lot that goes into making a great character — much more than we touched on in this post about characterization. Up next, we analyze how plot and tone are used to develop characters and create situational conflict. We’ll also show you how to use a character development worksheet to organize your character’s actions and beliefs from beginning to end.

Up Next: Character Development Worksheet →

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Characterization

Characterization definition.

Characterization is a literary device that is used step-by-step in literature to highlight and explain the details about a character in a story. It is in the initial stage in which the writer introduces the character with noticeable emergence. After introducing the character , the writer often talks about his behavior; then, as the story progresses, the thought-processes of the character .

The next stage involves the character expressing his opinions and ideas, and getting into conversations with the rest of the characters. The final part shows how others in the story respond to the character ’s personality.

Characterization as a literary tool was coined in the mid 15th century. Aristotle in his Poetics argued that “ tragedy is a representation, not of men, but of action and life.” Thus the assertion of the dominance of plot over characters, termed “ plot -driven narrative ,” is unmistakable. This point of view was later abandoned by many because, in the 19th century, the dominance of character over plot became clear through petty bourgeois novels.

Types of Characterization

An author can use two approaches to deliver information about a character and build an image of it. These two types of characterization include:

  • Direct or explicit characterization

This kind of characterization takes a direct approach towards building the character . It uses another character , narrator, or the protagonist himself to tell the readers or audience about the subject.

  • Indirect or implicit characterization

This is a more subtle way of introducing the character to the audience . The audience has to deduce for themselves the characteristics of the character by observing his/her thought process, behavior, speech, way of talking, appearance, and manner of communication with other characters, as well as by discerning the response of other characters.

Characterization in Drama

On stage or in front of the camera, actors usually do not have much time to characterize. For this reason, the character faces the risk of coming across as underdeveloped. In dramaturgy, realists take a different approach, by relying on implied characterization. This is pivotal to the theme of their character -driven narrative . Examples of these playwrights are Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen, and August Strindberg.

Classic psychological characterization examples, such as The Seagull , usually build the main character in a more indirect manner. This approach is considered more effective because it slowly discloses the inner turmoil of the character , over the course of the show, and lets the audience connect better.

The actors who act in such roles usually work on them profoundly to get an in-depth idea of the personalities of their respective characters. Often, during such shows, plays, or dramas, no direct statements about the character ’s nature are found. This kind of realism needs the actors to build the character from their own perspective initially. This is why realistic characterization is more of a subtle art, which cannot directly be recognized.

Examples of Characterization in Literature

Example #1: the great gatsby (by f. scott fitzgerald).

There are many examples of characterization in literature. The Great Gatsby , is probably the best. In this particular book, the main idea revolves around the social status of each character . The major character of the book, Mr. Gatsby, is perceptibly rich, but he does not belong to the upper stratum of society. This means that he cannot have Daisy. Tom is essentially defined by his wealth and the abusive nature that he portrays every now and then, while Daisy is explained by Gatsby as having a voice “full of money.”

Another technique to highlight the qualities of a character is to put them in certain areas that are symbolic of a social status. In the novel, Gatsby resides in the West Egg, which is considered less trendy than East Egg, where Daisy lives. This difference points out the gap between Jay’s and Daisy’s social statuses. Moreover, you might also notice that Tom, Jordan, and Daisy live in East Egg while Gatsby and Nick reside in West Egg, which again highlights the difference in their financial background. This division is reinforced at the end of the novel when Nick supports Gatsby against the rest of the folk.

Occupations have also been used very tactfully in the novel to highlight characteristics of certain protagonists. The prime example is Gatsby who, despite being so rich, is known by his profession: bootlegging. He had an illegal job that earned him a fortune, but failed to get him into the upper class of New York society. In contrast , Nick has a clean and fair job of a “bond man” that defines his character . The poor guy Wilson, who fixes rich people’s cars, befriends his wife; and then there is Jordon, who is presented as a dishonest golf pro.

Function of Characterization

Characterization is an essential component in writing good literature. Modern fiction , in particular, has taken great advantage of this literary device. Understanding the role of characterization in storytelling is very important for any writer. To put it briefly, it helps us make sense of the behavior of any character in a story by helping us understand their thought processes. A good use of characterization always leads the readers or audience to relate better to the events taking place in the story. Dialogues play a very important role in developing a character , because they give us an opportunity to examine the motivations and actions of the characters more deeply.

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What is Characterization Definition And Example

What is Characterization Definition And Examples

Table of Contents

What is Characterization Definition And Exampless

Characterization is a crucial literary device that writers use to develop and portray characters in a story. It involves creating and revealing the personalities, traits, motivations, and behaviors of the characters, making them more realistic and relatable to the readers. What is Characterization Definition And Examples By employing various techniques, authors bring their characters to life, enabling readers to form connections and engage with the narrative on a deeper level. In this i will explore the different elements and methods of characterization in literature, emphasizing their significance and impact on storytelling.

One of the fundamental aspects of characterization is the physical description of a character. By providing details about their appearance, such as their age, height, hair color, or clothing style, authors give readers a visual image to connect with. What is Characterization Definition And Examples Physical attributes can be used to convey certain qualities or traits. For Examples, a disheveled appearance might indicate a character’s chaotic or troubled nature, while a neat and well-groomed appearance could suggest discipline and orderliness. What is Characterization Definition And Examples However, it is important to note that physical appearance alone is not sufficient to create a fully developed character, as their inner attributes are equally important.

The portrayal of a character’s thoughts, feelings, and inner world is another crucial element of characterization . Authors employ various techniques to reveal a character’s internal landscape, such as through direct thoughts or internal monologues. What is Characterization Definition And Examples By giving readers access to a character’s inner thoughts and emotions, writers enable them to understand the character’s motivations, fears, desires, and conflicts. What is Characterization Definition And Examples This deepens the reader’s connection to the character and fosters empathy and understanding.

  • What is Colloquialism Definition And Examples
  • What is Catharsis Definition And Examples
  • What is Bildungsroman Definition And Examples

Dialogue is an effective tool that authors use to develop characterization. Through the characters’ interactions and conversations, readers gain insights into their personalities, relationships, and attitudes. The choice of words, tone, and speech patterns can reveal important information about a character’s background, education, social status, and even their emotional state. What is Characterization Definition And Examples For instance, a character who speaks with a formal and sophisticated language may be perceived as educated and refined, while someone who uses slang and informal speech might be seen as more casual or uneducated. Dialogue also allows characters to express their beliefs, opinions, and values, which further contributes to their development and complexity.

Actions and behaviors play a vital role in characterizing individuals within a story. How a character acts and reacts to different situations reveals their personality, motivations, and moral compass. A character’s actions can speak louder than words, demonstrating their true nature and illustrating their growth or transformation throughout the narrative. For Examples, a selfless act of heroism in the face of danger can show a character’s bravery and compassion, while a deceitful action can reveal their manipulative or dishonest tendencies. Actions also create opportunities for conflict and development, driving the plot forward and shaping the relationships between characters.

Characters’ relationships with others are significant in understanding their nature and development. The way a character interacts with family members, friends, colleagues, or enemies provides valuable insights into their social skills, values, and emotional connections. Through these relationships, characters can undergo changes, learn from others, or be influenced by external forces. For instance, a character who experiences a profound friendship or a tumultuous romantic relationship may evolve and grow as a result of these interactions. Relationships can also create tensions, conflicts, and dilemmas, enhancing the depth and complexity of the characters and the overall narrative.

Another effective method of characterization is the use of direct or indirect comparisons. By drawing parallels between a character and another person, object, or concept, authors can highlight certain traits or qualities. Comparisons can emphasize contrasts, similarities, or symbolism, shedding light on a character’s identity and role within the story. For Examples, a character who is described as “brave as a lion” evokes associations with courage and strength, while a comparison to a snake might imply deceit or treachery. These comparisons enrich the reader’s understanding of the character and contribute to the overall thematic development of the story.

Characters’ past experiences, memories, and backstories also contribute to their characterization. By providing information about a character’s history, authors reveal the events, traumas, or influences that have shaped them into who they are in the present. Past experiences can explain a character’s fears, motivations, and behavior, adding depth and complexity to their portrayal. What is Characterization Definition And Examples Additionally, backstory can create opportunities for character growth, as characters may strive to overcome their past or confront unresolved issues. Understanding a character’s history allows readers to form a more comprehensive and empathetic view of their actions and decisions.

Symbolism and archetypes are powerful tools that authors use to imbue characters with deeper meanings. Symbolic characters represent universal concepts, ideas, or qualities and often function as metaphors within the narrative. What is Characterization Definition And Examples For instance, a character who embodies innocence might symbolize purity or naivety, while a character associated with darkness could represent evil or hidden desires. What is Characterization Definition And Examples Archetypal characters, such as the hero, the mentor, or the trickster, are recurring character types found across different cultures and literature. What is Characterization Definition And Examples These archetypes embody certain qualities and fulfill specific narrative functions, providing readers with familiar and recognizable patterns.

Exampless Of Characterization

There are some Exampless-

  • Examples of Physical Description: In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” the character Jay Gatsby is described as having a “heightened sensitivity to the promises of life” with “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it.” This physical description suggests that Gatsby is a charismatic and enigmatic figure, alluring to those around him.
  • Examples of Internal Thoughts and Feelings: In Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre,” the protagonist Jane Eyre’s thoughts and emotions are frequently revealed through first-person narration. Through her introspective reflections, readers gain insights into Jane’s resilience, intelligence, and passionate nature, as well as her struggles with societal expectations and her search for independence and love.
  • Examples of Dialogue: In William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” the characters Romeo and Juliet engage in a poetic and passionate dialogue that conveys their intense emotions and their deep infatuation for each other. Their dialogue reflects their impulsive and ardent personalities, as well as their willingness to defy societal norms for the sake of their love.
  • Examples of Actions and Behaviors: In J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series, the character Severus Snape’s actions and behaviors throughout the story create an aura of mystery and ambiguity. Snape’s seemingly cold and antagonistic actions towards Harry and other students lead readers to form initial negative opinions about him. However, as the story unfolds, Snape’s true motivations and complex nature are revealed, highlighting the intricacies of his character.
  • Examples of Relationships: In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the relationship between siblings Scout and Jem Finch showcases their growth and development. As the story progresses, their bond strengthens, and their interactions demonstrate their shared values of fairness, compassion, and standing up against injustice. Their sibling relationship serves as a vehicle for character growth and moral exploration.

Characterization is a vital literary device that enables authors to breathe life into their characters and make them compelling and relatable to readers. What is Characterization Definition And Examples Through the use of physical descriptions, internal thoughts and emotions, dialogue, actions and behaviors, relationships, comparisons, backstories, and symbolism, authors create well-rounded and multi-dimensional characters that drive the narrative forward and engage readers on an emotional level. What is Characterization Definition And Examples Effective characterization enhances the depth and complexity of a story, allowing readers to form connections with the characters, understand their motivations, and follow their journeys throughout the narrative.

Q. Why is characterization important in literature?

Ans. Characterization is crucial in literature because it brings characters to life and makes them relatable to readers. Well-developed characters drive the plot, evoke emotions, and enable readers to engage with the story on a deeper level. Effective characterization adds depth, complexity, and realism to the narrative, enhancing the overall reading experience.

Q. What are the key elements of characterization?

Ans. The key elements of characterization include physical description, internal thoughts and emotions, dialogue, actions and behaviors, relationships, comparisons, backstories, and symbolism. These elements work together to create multi-dimensional characters and provide readers with insights into their personalities, motivations, and growth throughout the story.

Q. How does characterization contribute to the plot?

Ans. Characterization contributes to the plot by driving character development, creating conflicts and tensions, and influencing character interactions. Characters’ motivations, actions, and relationships shape the events of the story and determine its outcome. Well-crafted characterization adds depth and complexity to the plot, making it more engaging and compelling.

Q. How can symbolism be used for characterization?

Ans. Symbolism can be used for characterization by assigning symbolic meaning to characters or using them as metaphors. Symbolic characters represent abstract concepts, ideas, or qualities, allowing authors to convey deeper meanings and themes. Through symbolism, authors can imbue characters with added layers of meaning and enrich their portrayal within the narrative.

Q. How does characterization affect readers?

Ans. Characterization affects readers by eliciting emotional responses, fostering empathy, and creating connections. Well-developed characters that feel authentic and relatable resonate with readers, making them emotionally invested in the story. By understanding characters’ motivations, fears, and growth, readers can relate to their struggles and experiences, resulting in a more profound and memorable reading experience.

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What Is Characterization? Definition & 35+ Examples

Characterization is a literary device that crafts and molds the personalities, appearances, and motivations of the characters within a narrative. A writer uses direct and indirect characterization techniques to create memorable and authentic characters that help drive a story forward.

By examining various definitions and examples of characterization, we can gain a deeper understanding of the characters we encounter in literature and how they capture our imaginations.

Table of Contents

Definition and Purpose of Characterization

Characterization is the process by which an author develops and presents a character in a story. It includes the character’s personality, appearance, emotions, beliefs, and actions. The primary goal of characterization is to make the characters in a narrative feel real and believable to the reader.

Characterization serves several purposes in a story, such as:

  • Creating realistic and multidimensional characters that readers can relate to and empathize with.
  • Enhancing the plot and overall theme of the story by using the characters’ motivations, conflicts, and growth.
  • Establishing relationships between characters that drive the story forward and add depth to the narrative.

Here are some examples of characterization:

  • Through dialogue, a character reveals their sarcastic wit and cynicism, indicating their skepticism about the world around them.
  • A character’s nervous habit of fidgeting with their hands when they’re anxious or upset, revealing their inner emotions without explicitly stating them.
  • Another character’s meticulous attention to their appearance, suggesting their vanity and desire to impress others.
  • A character’s choice to stand up for a friend in a difficult situation, demonstrating their loyalty and strong sense of justice.

Types of Characterization

Characterization is a critical aspect of storytelling, as it helps readers understand and relate to the personalities and motivations of fictional characters. There are two main types of characterization: direct and indirect .

Direct Characterization

Direct characterization is when the author explicitly describes a character’s traits, emotions, or actions. This method typically involves clear and definitive language to convey a character’s appearance, thoughts, or emotions. Direct characterization can be found in various forms of literature, including novels, plays, and short stories.

Here are a few examples of direct characterization:

  • The young man was tall and strong, with a confident stride and a determined gaze.
  • Her eyes were filled with sadness, and her soft voice trembled as she spoke.
  • He was a miserly old man who never spent more than he had to.

Indirect Characterization

Indirect characterization involves providing clues about a character’s traits, emotions, or actions through their behavior, interactions with other characters, or dialogue. Instead of explicitly stating a character’s qualities, the reader is left to infer the information based on the character’s actions, decisions, or speech.

Let’s look at a few examples of indirect characterization:

  • As he stood in the rain, without an umbrella, he glanced at the small rock in his hand and smiled. (The character might be sentimental or romantic.)
  • She rolled her eyes and sighed loudly as her coworker rambled on about his weekend. (The character might be impatient or dismissive of others.)
  • He frequently stopped to pick up litter and place it in the garbage can during his morning jog. (The character is likely environmentally conscious and considerate.)

Both direct and indirect characterization methods have their merits and can be employed alone or in combination to create rich, believable characters for any story.

Elements of Characterization

There are several key elements of characterization that can be used to develop a character in a story. We will explore five main aspects: appearance, speech, thoughts and feelings, actions, and reactions.

A character’s physical appearance is often the first detail an author provides and can help set the tone for how they are perceived. Descriptive language gives readers a mental image of the character’s features, size, and style of dress.

Example: “He had a long, weathered face with sharp blue eyes and wore a navy suit and polished black shoes.”

Dialogue is a powerful tool for characterization. A character’s choice of words, tone, and manner of speaking can reveal a lot about their age, education, social background, and personality.

Example: “Her voice was soft and measured, with an elegant French accent that made every word sound like a melody.”

Thoughts and Feelings

Characterization can also be expressed through insights into a character’s internal thoughts and emotions, helping readers better understand their motivations, fears, and desires.

Example: “As he stood at the edge of the cliff, the uncertainty welled up within him — a mix of excitement and dread.”

A character’s actions reveal their choices, values, and priorities. By showing readers what a character does, an author can highlight their strengths, weaknesses, and complexities.

  • Example 1: “He bravely rushed into the burning building to save the trapped kitten.”
  • Example 2: “She meticulously organized every detail of the fundraiser, determined to make it a success.”

A character’s reactions to events or other characters can provide insight into their temperament and emotional stability. Look at how they respond to positive or negative situations or how they interact with other characters.

Example: “She recoiled at the sight of the spider, her face pale and wide-eyed with fear.”

Character Development

Character development is an essential aspect of storytelling as it highlights the characters’ growth and transformation throughout the narrative.

Static Characters

Static characters are ones that do not undergo significant changes in their personality, beliefs, or perspective throughout the story. They remain consistent in their behavior and motivation, which helps maintain the story’s stability. Examples of static characters include:

  • Sherlock Holmes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series : Holmes is an incredibly skilled detective with a keen mind, but his character remains consistent in his logical and analytical approach to solving crimes throughout the series.
  • Mr. Collins from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice : Mr. Collins is a pompous, self-important clergyman who remains largely the same throughout the novel, never learning from his mistakes or changing his behavior.
  • Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory : As a highly intelligent but socially awkward physicist, Sheldon remains largely the same character throughout the series, with his eccentric personality and rigid adherence to routine staying consistent.

Dynamic Characters

Dynamic characters experience substantial growth and transformation as a result of internal or external factors. These changes can be positive, negative, or mixed, depending on the character’s journey. Examples of dynamic characters include:

  • Simba from Disney’s The Lion King : Simba begins as a carefree and somewhat naïve young lion, but after facing significant challenges and self-discovery, he matures into a responsible and wise king.
  • Neville Longbottom from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series : Neville starts as a timid, unsure young wizard but eventually grows into a brave and confident leader, playing a crucial role in the final battle against Voldemort.
  • Tony Stark from the Marvel Cinematic Universe : Tony Stark experiences significant growth throughout the series of films, evolving from a self-centered playboy and weapons manufacturer into a responsible and self-sacrificing superhero dedicated to protecting the world.

Round vs. Flat Characters

The complexity of a character’s personality also plays a role in their development. Round characters exhibit multifaceted personalities and tend to be more relatable, while flat characters are more simplistic and one-dimensional. Examples of these characters include:

Stock Characters

Stock characters are commonly seen in various stories across different genres. They are stereotypes or archetypes, serving specific functions in the plot. The following are examples of stock characters:

  • The Damsel in Distress: A female character who is vulnerable and in need of rescue by a heroic figure, often found in fairy tales, adventure stories, and romance narratives (e.g., Princess Peach from the Super Mario series).
  • The Villain: The main antagonist of a story, often embodying evil or malice and working against the protagonist (e.g., Darth Vader from the Star Wars series or Lord Voldemort from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series).
  • The Hero: A courageous and morally upright character who overcomes obstacles and challenges to achieve a greater good, often saving others or defeating the villain (e.g., Superman from DC Comics or Harry Potter from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series).

Examples of Characterization

There are various examples of characterization in literature, film, and TV shows which will provide a clear understanding of how creators develop and showcase memorable characters.

Characters in Literature

Characterization can be seen in many well-known literary works. Some examples include:

  • Jean ‘Scout’ Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee: Characterization is achieved through Scout’s first-person narrative, which allows the reader to understand her perspective, thoughts, and emotions. Additionally, her interactions with other characters, such as her father, Atticus Finch, and her brother, Jem, help to reveal her personality, values, and beliefs.
  • Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen: Austen develops Elizabeth’s character through her thoughts, dialogue, and interactions with other characters. Elizabeth’s wit and intelligence are displayed in her conversations, while her evolving relationship with Mr. Darcy reveals her capacity for growth and self-awareness.
  • Huckleberry Finn in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain: Huck’s growth and moral evolution are showcased through his interactions with other characters, inner thoughts, and actions.

Characters in Film

Characterization in film often involves visual and auditory elements as well as dialogue and actions. Examples include:

  • Forrest Gump in “Forrest Gump” : Forrest’s simplicity and genuine nature are conveyed through his dialogue, body language, and facial expressions.
  • Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver : Travis’s alienation and inner turmoil are exemplified through his diary entries, body language, and interactions with others.
  • Ki-woo in “Parasite” : Ki-woo’s character is developed through his actions, dialogue, and relationships with his family members and the wealthy Park family. The film explores themes of social inequality, ambition, and deception as Ki-woo and his family infiltrate the lives of the Parks, with Ki-woo serving as the central character who sets the plot in motion.

Characters in TV Shows

Television shows often have the advantage of extended runtime to develop characters further. Some examples of characterization in TV shows are:

  • Beth Harmon in “The Queen’s Gambit” : Beth’s character is developed through her actions, relationships, and internal struggles as she becomes a world-class chess player. The series explores her growth from an orphaned girl with a talent for chess to a driven, complex young woman grappling with addiction and her place in a male-dominated world.
  • Tyrion Lannister in “Game of Thrones” : Tyrion’s intelligence and wit are conveyed through his dialogue, strategic decisions, and interactions with other characters.
  • Rue Bennett in “Euphoria” : Characterization of Rue is achieved through her narration, dialogue, and interactions with other characters as she navigates the challenges of high school, relationships, and drug addiction. The show explores her vulnerabilities, resilience, and the impact of her choices on herself and those around her.

Characterization in Everyday Life

Characterization in everyday life is the process of understanding and interpreting the personalities, motivations, and traits of the people we encounter in our daily lives. We make judgments and draw conclusions about others based on their appearance, actions, words, and interactions with others.

Here are some examples of how we engage in characterization in everyday life:

We often make assumptions about people based on their physical appearance, clothing, and body language. For example, someone dressed professionally and carrying a briefcase may be seen as responsible and successful, while someone wearing casual or disheveled clothing might be perceived as laid-back or less serious.

We judge people by their actions, both big and small. Someone who consistently arrives late to appointments may be characterized as disorganized or inconsiderate, while someone who regularly volunteers for charity might be seen as generous and compassionate.

The things people say, as well as how they say them, can reveal a lot about their character. Someone who uses polite and respectful language may be seen as considerate and well-mannered, while someone who frequently uses harsh or critical language might be perceived as aggressive or judgmental.

Interactions With Others

Observing how people interact with others, such as friends, family members, or coworkers, can provide insight into their character. A person who treats others with kindness and respect may be considered empathetic and caring, while someone who consistently talks over or dismisses others might be seen as self-centered or domineering.

Social Media Presence

In today’s digital age, people’s online personas can also contribute to the characterization process. Someone who frequently posts positive messages and engages respectfully with others online may be seen as friendly and optimistic, while a person who posts negative or controversial content might be perceived as confrontational or pessimistic.

Importance of Characterization in Storytelling

Characterization plays a crucial role in storytelling as it brings life to the characters, making them more relatable and engaging to the readers or audience. An effective characterization allows readers to empathize with the characters, evoking emotions and driving the story forward.

A good practice in characterization is to provide characters with well-defined personalities, backgrounds, and motivations. This can be achieved through various techniques, such as the use of dialogue, description, and action. Here are more examples.

  • Example 1: “She had a peculiar gait, her legs moving like scissors slicing air, and her arms rigid, like two branches ready to snap.”
  • Example 2: “His laughter was like a thunderclap, sudden and loud, and would often startle people in the room with its intensity.”
  • Example 3: “Whenever she spoke about her hometown, her eyes sparkled like stars, and her voice became soft as if cradling each memory from the past.”
  • Example 4: “He would never walk across a room without a book in hand, as if afraid to be caught without his beloved companion.”

These examples showcase the different aspects of characters, such as physical traits, emotional expressions, and personal experiences, making them unique and memorable.

Employing these characterization techniques can greatly enhance the quality of storytelling and lead to a deeper connection with readers and viewer

Frequently Asked Questions

How can i create effective characterization in my writing.

To create effective characterization in your writing, consider using a mix of direct and indirect characterization methods.

Focus on developing your characters’ personalities, motivations, and relationships with other characters. Incorporate elements such as physical description, dialogue, actions, thoughts, and backstory to create well-rounded and engaging characters.

Additionally, ensure that your characters have distinct voices and attributes, which can help make them more memorable and relatable to your audience.

What are some common pitfalls to avoid when developing characters?

Some common pitfalls to avoid when developing characters include relying on stereotypes or clichés, creating one-dimensional or flat characters, making characters too similar to one another, and failing to provide sufficient character development or growth throughout the story.

To avoid these pitfalls, focus on creating unique, complex characters with distinct voices, and ensure that they undergo meaningful development or change as the narrative progresses.

How can I use character flaws to enhance characterization?

Character flaws can enrich characterization by adding depth, complexity, and realism to your characters. Flaws make characters more relatable and human, allowing readers or viewers to connect with their struggles and imperfections.

Consider how a character’s flaws might create conflicts, obstacles, or opportunities for growth within the story, and use them to challenge and develop the character’s values, motivations, and relationships.

We have explored the concept of characterization in literature, discussing its importance in giving life to the characters and making stories engaging for readers. There are different ways of presenting a character, including direct and indirect characterization, and authors employ various techniques to develop their characters fully.

Ultimately, effective characterization is crucial in crafting memorable characters that resonate with readers, helping create stories that leave an impact long after the last page is turned.

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Humanities LibreTexts

5.1: Characters and Characterization

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The characters are the persons that are involved in the story. Obviously, Harry Potter is the main character. The main character is often called the protagonist. Since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is a novel, we meet many other characters as well. Look at the character list on Sparknotes – Harry Potter . Which characters would you rank as the most important? It would be surprising if you did not include Harry’s friends Ron and Hermione, his enemies Draco and the scary Voldemort, and not to forget “the good guys,” Professor Dumbledore and the giant Hagrid.

How are the characters described? In the novel we are admitted to Harry’s thoughts and fears and based on that, we can say something about Harry as well as his relationship with other characters.

Most novels will have a hero, a good guy. There is no doubt that Harry Potter is the hero and protagonist, and he has a lot of good friends. How do we know that they are good? We have to depend on information about looks, behavior and speech.

Extracts from the Novel

Study the extracts and then answer the questions which follow.

Extracts from the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone used in the analysis.

If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets. (Description of Hagrid)

“S–s–sorry,” sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. “But I c-c-can’t stand it – Lily and James dead – an’ poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles – ” (Hagrid talks about Harry’s dead parents and how he has to stay with the humans, the Muggles)

“Yes, yes, it’s all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we’ll be found,” Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry’s blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid’s shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore’s eyes seemed to have gone out. (From the delivery of the orphan Harry at the Dursleys’ doorstep)

“Look”– he murmured, holding out his arm to stop Malfoy. Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer. It was the unicorn, all right, and it was dead. Harry had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly white on the dark leaves. Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered… Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Harry, Malfoy, and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal’s side, and began to drink its blood. (from the first time Harry meets Voldemort)

Study Extracts 1, 2 and 3

  • How does the author introduce us to Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore? What kind of impression do you get? Do you like them? Why?
  • Describe in your own words Hagrid’s looks.
  • How is speech used to describe the characters?

Villains/Antagonists

In most novels we will also meet some “bad guys”. They are often called villains or antagonists. How do we know that they are evil? Study Extract 4 above.

  • Describe in your own words Voldemort’s looks and behavior.
  • How does the author tell us that Voldemort is an evil character (an antagonist)?

Character Development

Throughout the story Harry changes a lot. He develops from a loner into a sociable, more mature guy, and he also has to admit that he is mistaken. One of the characters that he thinks is “a bad guy” is actually “a good guy”! In most reports you will be asked to write a characterization of one of the main characters and to comment if they have changed, or not.

Terminology

  • The characters are the persons we meet in the story.
  • A characterization is a description of the characters.
  • The protagonist is the main character, often the hero of the story.
  • The antagonist is the villain or enemy in the story.
  • Characters and Characterization (Easy Novel Guide). Authored by : Eli M. Huseby and Knut Inge Skifjeld. Provided by : NDLA. Located at : http://ndla.no/en/node/62750?fag=42 . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

What Is Direct Characterization in Literature?

Matt Ellis

Direct characterization is when an author describes a character in a straightforward manner, as if telling the reader directly . Also known as “explicit characterization,” direct characterization involves specific details about a character’s appearance, motivation, job, passions, and/or background, but inhibits the reader from drawing their own conclusions about the character. 

A powerful weapon in any writer’s arsenal, direct characterization can enhance any story, but also hinder it if not handled properly. In this guide, we explain what you need to know to use it correctly, starting with a direct characterization definition. 

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What is direct characterization? 

Direct characterization is a type of literary device used to tell conclusive details about a character to the reader with little or no ambiguity. The idea is that the author is stating a definitive fact about the character, as opposed to more subtle descriptions that leave some things up to the reader’s imagination. 

Each author has their own direct characterization definition, depending on their style. However, for most narrative writing , it means using descriptive adjectives and phrases to paint a distinct picture for the reader. 

Why is direct characterization important? 

Direct characterization helps readers visualize a realistic character in their head. Good writers encourage the reader to add their own details, but some character aspects are necessary for the plot. Think of a character who uses their looks to manipulate people or one whose career as a police officer pits them against another character. 

In these cases, direct characterization makes sure the reader has all the need-to-know information about a character. Other details that aren’t relevant can be left up to the reader’s imagination. 

When should you use direct characterization?

In creative writing , direct characterization is most common during the first appearance or introduction of key characters, as a way to establish core details and give some background like their occupation or main motivators. After the introduction, the reader has a clear idea of who the character is (more or less) while moving forward. 

However, as a writer, you can use direct characterization any time to reveal new information about a character, although you have to do it in a way that’s not surprising or jarring. Feel free to use direct characterization later in the story if a character’s motivations change, or if some details were left unsaid earlier. 

What’s the difference between direct characterization and indirect characterization?

The second type of characterization is known as indirect characterization . While direct characterization explains character details directly to the reader, indirect characterization shares details through a character’s actions, dialogue, or internal monologue. 

For example, let’s say you have a character who doesn’t like children. A direct characterization example would take a straightforward approach. The author could state it clearly:

Old man Humphrey never liked children, even when he himself was a child. 

Indirect characterization would take a more roundabout approach. The author could describe a scene that shows the character’s dislike of children through action or dialogue without explicitly stating it: 

Old man Humphrey stiffened the moment the child came close. “Get out of here!” he snapped abruptly. “I’m sick of you kids trampling my lawn!” 

Unlike direct characterization, indirect characterization has more nuance and ambiguity, with more room for interpretation. In general, indirect characterization is better for reader engagement; it encourages them to use their imagination more, which makes the story and characters more personal to them. 

However, some details are too important for subtlety, which is why direct characterization is crucial when first describing a character. All in all, when writing a book or any piece of fiction, it’s best to use both direct and indirect characterization. 

Direct characterization examples 

Let’s take a look at some direct characterization examples straight from English literature so that you can see them in action. Look for the use of descriptive adjectives and phrases, as well as the definitive language that removes any confusion. Also pay attention to what the author chooses not to describe, leaving it up to the reader. 

First, here’s an excerpt from Anne of Green Gables , the first of the famous series of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery. It occurs early on in the novel and describes one of the key characters, Matthew Cuthbert. Notice how, in addition to a physical description, Montgomery also gives the reader some information about Matthew’s personality and internal motivations. 

Matthew dreaded all women except Marilla and Mrs. Rachel; he had an uncomfortable feeling that the mysterious creatures were secretly laughing at him. He may have been quite right in thinking so, for he was an odd-looking personage, with an ungainly figure and long iron-gray hair that touched his stooping shoulders, and a full, soft brown beard which he had worn ever since he was twenty. In fact, he had looked at twenty very much as he looked at sixty, lacking a little of the grayness.

Another direct characterization example comes from Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde . It occurs in the very first paragraph of the story, meant to set up the character of Mr. Utterson, who acts as a stand-in for the reader as he watches Dr. Jekyll’s story unfold. 

Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable. At friendly meetings, and when the wine was to his taste, something eminently human beaconed from his eye; something indeed which never found its way into his talk, but which spoke not only in these silent symbols of the after-dinner face, but more often and loudly in the acts of his life. 

As you can see, direct characterization is more than just stating facts, but also stating them in an engaging way. That’s no easy feat, so to help you get started, below we share some tips on how to use direct characterization. 

3 tips for direct characterization 

If you’re new to creative writing or simply want to refine your skills, here are three expert tips for using direct characterization. 

1 Use figurative language

Stating details plainly can be effective for communication, but it’s not very entertaining. To engage your readers, try peppering your descriptions with figurative language . 

Figurative language works great for livening up an otherwise bland statement—it’s a natural counterbalance to a flat and dull description. However, don’t go overboard; too much figurative language can convolute your meaning, and the main goal of direct characterization is to be clear and straightforward. 

2 Avoid spoon-feeding readers

The trouble with direct characterization is that it prevents the reader from imagining their own details. Using it too much is like spoon-feeding your readers instead of letting them participate themselves. 

That’s why direct characterization is best used sparingly, reserved for the necessary details that impact the story. Indirect characterization, on the other hand, is great for drawing the reader in and getting them involved. You’ll want to use them both in tandem to find a happy medium between showing and telling . 

3 Build suspense with descriptions

Direct characterization often involves blocks of text—sometimes a single sentence, sometimes multiple paragraphs. While using them excessively can slow down the narrative action and hinder momentum, you can use them strategically in the right spots to build suspense and generate anticipation. 

Try adding a bit of direct characterization to draw out key story points and prolong the tension. For example, if a character just drops a bombshell piece of dialogue, you can describe another character’s facial features as part of their reaction. This extends the exciting moment in your story and makes the reader want to know what comes next even more.

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5 Perfect Short Texts for Teaching Characterization in Literature

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Looking for short stories (and other short texts) you can use to teach characterization in literature? This post is for you!

If you’re a fan of using short texts to teach literary concepts and more, I have a new resource (2023) that has 15 lesson plans analyzing pop culture short texts, like TV episodes, songs, short films, and more! Check out the 15 Pop Culture Analysis Activities resource here.

An overhead photo of books standing upright. There is a white box in the center with pink text that reads "Teaching Characterization in Literature with Short Stories"

Teaching Characterization in Literature

Are you tired of teaching the same short stories over and over? Today I’m sharing 5 texts – four contemporary and one classic – that you and your students will love.

Analyzing characterization in literature is a vital part of understanding an author’s purpose , and one tool I love to use when teaching characterization is interactive notebooks. I even have a resource in my store dedicated to teaching characterization with interactive notebooks !

A resource for teaching characterization in literature, titled Character Analysis for Interactive Notebooks.

Help your students confidently analyze characters in any novel. This resource uses video clips, fairy tales, and a, editable PowerPoint to introduce students to the concept of character analysis. Students finish with an analytical essay about a character from your text. This resource includes an editable essay prompt and rubric, and it’s scaffolded to support all learners. (Optimized for grades 6-10)

Short Stories for teaching characterization in literature in high school :

“fish cheeks” by amy tan (hs).

“Fish Cheeks” is a poignant mix of teenage angst and hindsight, with a backdrop of culture shock. It’s hard to summarize such a short story (500 words!) without spoiling it, so instead, just go read it! 

This tiny-but-mighty story could fit into SO many lessons. Tan’s use of rich, descriptive language creates a powerful sense of place. It really sits the reader at the dinner table along with the two families. Tan’s identity crisis creates conflict, and the pacing is impeccable. Even if you don’t use it for characterization, I hope you find a place in your classroom for this story. 

Need more inclusive short stories? Here are some for Hispanic Heritage Month , AAPI authored , and LGBTQ+ authored . I also share short story assessment ideas too!

“The Girl Without a Face” by Marie Lu (HS) 

CW: rape, suicide

This story and the recommendation below are both found in the YA horror anthology, Slasher Boys and Monster Girls .

Our main character, Richard, isn’t sleeping. His closet door is the only door in his family’s new house that won’t open, and no one knows why. It’s only as Richard’s anxiety and terror deepen that we get a flashback to an experience he had at a party. Even though we get the flashback from Richard’s perspective and he doesn’t think he did anything wrong, it’s clear that he raped a girl and locked her in a closet. She later died by suicide.

This is another terrifying revenge story, but it is as artful as any Poe tale. We empathize with Richard at first—he’s a bright boy, and we’re worried for him. It’s only as we get to know him we discover that he’s not the hero, but the villain. 

Teaching Ideas : This is an excellent text for teaching characterization. How does Lu build sympathy for Richard before the story’s turning point? How does Richard’s lack of remorse impact the reading of the second half?

Want classroom-appropriate horror/suspense content? Check out these short stories !

Short stories for teaching characterization in literature in middle school :

“thank you, ma’am” by langston hughes (ms).

In this classic story by Langston Hughes, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones catches young Roger trying to steal her purse. She takes him home, washes his face, and gives him supper. In the space of three short pages, we have amazing examples of both direct and indirect characterization. 

This is an excellent story for teaching the STEAL (Speech, Thoughts, Effect on Others, Actions, Looks) method of indirect characterization . My middle schoolers love this story! It’s a quick read, and then they can get to the “good stuff,” like discussing what they would have done in Mrs. Jones’ situation. If you want to save yourself some time, I have STEAL worksheets in my TPT store 🙂

Other texts to teach characterization in middle and high school:

“ hush ” from buffy, the vampire slayer (42 min) (hs).

In this episode of Buffy, monsters come to town and steal everyone’s voices. It’s a straightforward plot–the monsters are in town to steal hearts, but a scream is fatal to them. The execution is where this episode really shines. Since the second half of the episode is almost entirely without dialogue, the writers must employ different means of storytelling. It winds up being an episode with a lot of character development, and that’s a great conversation starter about how characterization happens in fiction. You can talk about how the Xander/Anya relationship is developed in particular, as well as how Buffy and Riley’s relationship is almost easier when they can’t speak.

This episode has some quite intense moments, as the monsters are some of the scariest shown in Buffy. There are also some visual jokes that are sexual in nature, and Anya says the word “orgasm” several times early in the episode. While that may make it more difficult to work in a classroom, the examples of non-dialogue storytelling are strong enough that it’s still worth including. This episode is currently available to stream on Hulu+ and Amazon Prime.

Find even more ideas for using TV in ELA in this post .

Piper (All ages)

This short follows a young sandpiper on her journey from a fledgling to a fearless shell-hunter. It’s ideal for discussing characterization and character development. It’s also good for discussing tone and mood. Although it shows Piper’s biggest fear, the tone remains lighthearted and whimsical overall.

Teaching ideas : Have students explore questions like, “How did the filmmaker convey mood?” How does the character of Piper follow the Hero’s Journey archetype? How does Piper’s character change/grow over the course of the film, and what around her (setting, other characters, etc) influence her?

6 more short films for teaching literary elements. 

Final thoughts:

A photo of three men making funny faces. There is a pink box above with white text that reads "Teaching Characterization in Literature with Short Stories"

I hope this post gave you some fresh ideas for teaching characterization in literature! Do you have a favorite literary character to teach? Share in the comments below!

Want to read more about teaching literary elements? In these posts, I share texts and ideas for teaching symbolism , setting , figurative language , suspense and pacing , conflict , metaphor , and irony .

Happy teaching!

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10 Best Characterization Examples in Literature

There are various standards to evaluate a character whether it is the best or the worst, some characters have common character traits which make them stand out among the rest. It also depends on the sketch of the character that the authors present in their works. Some of the characters impact millions, while others just a few thousands. Depending on the criteria of physical description, dialogue , conversation, thoughts, and actions, the best ten characters from literature are as follows.

Character #1

Hamlet from Hamlet by William Shakespeare

As the best character, Hamlet ranks as one of the best and at the top of this list for his popularity, strength of character, actions, thoughts, and dialogues. He is the main character of the play , Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, and has become an icon in playwriting. Depressed over the death of his father, Hamlet suspects his uncle, verifies it through the appearance of the Ghost, upbraids his mother, and even disenchants his beloved , Ophelia. During the course of action, he also fights with Laertes and kills his father, Polonius, yet his thoughts encapsulated in his soliloquies mesmerize the audience . His final words also stay with the readers and the audiences alike. That is why he is also considered one of the best characters of all time.

Character #2

Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Jay is one of the best characters known for his reticence, his self-made portrait, and his down-to-earn simple conversation. Reaching the Long Island elite class is not such a mean feat if somebody has a very humble origin like that of Jay Gatsby. Although his all actions seem driven by his love, he does not seem obsessed with other objects . Interestingly, he succeeds in achieving his dream, yet his efforts face the bitter realities of the social fabric of those times. That is why he is considered an interesting character in American literature.

Character #3

Tess from Tess of d’Urberville by Thomas Hardy

The central character of Hardy’s popular novel , Tess of d’Urberville , Tess Durbeyfield is also one of the best character in our ranking of the best characters in English Literature. She is a highly attractive girl and raw beauty of the rural Wessex, but her fate throws her into an untoward situation where she faces a brutal rape and an estranged abandonment by her sincere lover, who later marries her sister after she is hanged for killing Alec. Her lineage, chances, and her own ideals play a significant role in her tragic end, and her beauty stays in the minds of the readers for good.

Character #4

Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Because of his aphoristic sayings and undaunted struggle against the fish , the marline, the Cuban angler, Santiago, is included in this list. As the central character of the Old Man and the Sea , the tour de force of Hemingway, Santiago is an old man with wrinkles on his face and body but steely determination. He turns his bad luck into fortune, but it never comes to fruition as sharks eat up his entire prize when he tries to return to the mainland. His endurance, strength, and bodily struggle, despite his weak physical structure, stay in the minds of the readers.

Character #5

Gregor Samsa from The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Gregor Samsa, the central character of The Metamorphosis of Franz Kafka, is one of our best characters in literature due to his personality being a highly reflective and responsible character. He transforms into vermin at the very beginning of the novel and stays until he becomes an outcast and dies. Yet, he continues feeling and thinking about his responsibilities, his family, his friends, and his job. Despite knowing that he has transformed into a vermin, he continues to think of a way to perform his duties. These thoughts bring him to the forefront among the best characters in literature.

Character #6

Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Caulfield is certainly of the best and bold characters in literature. He appears in The Catcher in The Rye by J. D. Salinger and occupies the novel from the first to the last page. His true qualities lie in his being identified by the readers as one among them. His vivid expression about himself, his background, his failure in school, his hospitalization, meeting with his teacher, and psychoanalytic checkup, and above all his traumatic background make him stand as a strong character. Most of his peculiarities are not explained within the text and become dilemmatic for the readers, which is the main reason for his being the best character of J. D. Salinger.

Character #7

Sherlock Holmes from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes appears in many short and long fiction by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in such a way that most people think of him as a living character. This impression of the readers lies in the character descriptions of Sir Arthur. His appearance in The Hound of the Baskervilles , however, is interesting in that he comes alive before the eyes of the readers through his physical appearance, his actions, and his conversation with Dr. Watson. The art of Conan Doyle becomes alive by presenting him having an ego as well as his common wit . However, the main dexterity of the character lies in oscillating between friends and foes.

Character #8

Aureliano Buendia from One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Known with the name of Aureliano Buendia is the greatest fatherly soldier figure in One Hundred Years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez. He is included in this list of the best characters for his physically matchless and artistic accomplishments. However, one more thing that makes him unique is that he is inexperienced in having deep emotions. He thinks that no sorrow could impact his persona . That is why he experiences sufferings from the war, family feuds, and tribal saga with a stiff upper lip. A poetic soul, he tries to live in the present, understanding the cycles of time with memories. That is why he is considered the best character in translated literature.

Character #9

Mrs. Ramsay from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Mrs. Ramsay’s description and also her conversation with the depiction of nature have won him the place in the list of the best characters in literature. She is kind, tolerant, and protective toward others. Her concern for her sibling and understanding of her husband shows that she is not disillusioned about such relations. She is a down-to-earth realist and feels that she must protect her family as well as women. Despite her uncompromising manners, her tact in handling her husband wins the hearts of her readers.

Character #10

The Little Prince from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

From some other planet, the little prince meets the narrator when his aircraft crashes in the Sahara Desert. Although he is put in contrast with childlike characters of this earth, his innocent but seductive questions raise the eyebrows of the readers. He proves a hard nut to crack for the narrator who feels chagrined after he finds himself in a tight spot over his questions. His search for an answer drives him on this earth until the end when he leaves the earth but wins the heart of his readers due to which we have him among our best characters in literature.

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  1. Characterization

    Characterization is the representation of the traits, motives, and psychology of a character in a narrative. Characterization may occur through direct description, in which the character's qualities are described by a narrator, another character, or by the character him or herself.

  2. Characterization

    Characterization is a literary device that is used step-by-step in literature to highlight and explain the details of a character in a story. It is in the initial stage in which the writer introduces the character with noticeable emergence.

  3. Characterization in Literature: Definition & Examples

    In literature, characterization is expressed directly and indirectly through physical descriptions, dialogue, characters' inner thoughts, and actions. These details reveal characters' behavior, psychology, personality, and motive. Character hasn't always been central to stories.

  4. Writing 101: Guide to Direct Characterization and Indirect

    Sometimes, writers use a literary tool called characterization to bring characters to life. Characterization is an essential part of writing a novel or short story; it helps you understand your characters, and how each character's personality and perspectives can help drive the plot forward. Learn From the Best What Is Characterization?

  5. Characterization Examples and Definition

    Characterization is the act of creating and describing characters in literature. Characterization includes both descriptions of a character's physical attributes as well as the character's personality. The way that characters act, think, and speak also adds to their characterization.

  6. PDF Defining Characterization

    Characterization is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character. Characterization is revealed through direct characterization and indirect characterization. Direct Characterization tells the audience what the personality of the character is. Example:

  7. Characterization: Definitions and Examples

    Characterization Definition & Examples I. What is Characterization? Characterization is a writer's tool, or "literary device" that occurs any time the author uses details to teach us about a person. This is used over the course of a story in order to tell the tale.

  8. Characterization

    Characterization or characterisation is the representation of characters (persons, creatures, or other beings) in narrative and dramatic works. The term character development is sometimes used as a synonym.

  9. Characterization

    Characterization refers to the process by which a writer reveals the personality, traits, and motivations of a character in a story. This can be accomplished through various means, including direct description, dialogue, actions, and interactions with other characters.

  10. Guide to Literary Terms Characterization

    Characterization is creating an effective artistic representation of an individual, particularly within a work of drama or fiction. Writers accomplish characterization through all aspects of a...

  11. What is Characterization

    What is Characterization — A Guide to Character Building By Chris Heckmann on May 21, 2023 Basic Characters Character Tropes Characterization How do writers make characters into people we can empathize with and understand? One way is through the use of characterization. But what is characterization?

  12. Characterization in Literature

    Characterization can be defined as a literary device that writers use to describe and provide information about specific characters in their work. Characterization can be used to assess...

  13. Characterization definition and example literary device

    Characterization is a literary device that is used step-by-step in literature to highlight and explain the details about a character in a story. It is in the initial stage in which the writer introduces the character with noticeable emergence.

  14. What is Characterization Definition And Examples

    Characterization is a crucial literary device that writers use to develop and portray characters in a story. It involves creating and revealing the personalities, traits, motivations, and behaviors of the characters, making them more realistic and relatable to the readers.

  15. Characterization: How It Connects Readers to Your Story

    Characterization is a literary device that writers use to reveal details about the characters in a story. This typically happens over several stages: Initial stage: The writer introduces the character, often while illustrating their behavior or mannerisms. Second stage: After showing the external actions, the author then shares the thought ...

  16. Direct & Indirect Characterization

    In literature, authors need a way of describing characters in a way most readers will understand. This is referred to as characterization; when an author either directly or indirectly...

  17. Characterization

    E.g. In Jane Austen 's 'Pride and Prejudice,' characterization is a central literary device, as Austen meticulously reveals the traits, motivations, and development of characters such as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, allowing readers to engage deeply with the novel's rich and complex personalities.

  18. What Is Characterization? Definition & 35+ Examples

    Characterization is a literary device that crafts and molds the personalities, appearances, and motivations of the characters within a narrative. A writer uses direct and indirect characterization techniques to create memorable and authentic characters that help drive a story forward.

  19. 5.1: Characters and Characterization

    The characters are the persons we meet in the story. A characterization is a description of the characters. The protagonist is the main character, often the hero of the story. The antagonist is the villain or enemy in the story. CC licensed content, Shared previously. Characters and Characterization (Easy Novel Guide).

  20. Direct Characterization

    Direct characterization helps the readers understand the type of character they are going to read about. For instance, in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, he describes his character John Proctor in this way: "He was the kind of man - powerful of body, even-tempered, and not easily led - who cannot refuse support to partisans without drawing their deepest resentment."

  21. What Is Direct Characterization in Literature?

    Write with Grammarly What is direct characterization? Direct characterization is a type of literary device used to tell conclusive details about a character to the reader with little or no ambiguity.

  22. 5 Perfect Short Texts for Teaching Characterization in Literature

    0 Looking for short stories (and other short texts) you can use to teach characterization in literature? This post is for you! If you're a fan of using short texts to teach literary concepts and more, I have a new resource (2023) that has 15 lesson plans analyzing pop culture short texts, like TV episodes, songs, short films, and more!

  23. 10 Best Characterization Examples in Literature

    Character #1. Hamlet from Hamlet by William Shakespeare. As the best character, Hamlet ranks as one of the best and at the top of this list for his popularity, strength of character, actions, thoughts, and dialogues. He is the main character of the play, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, and has become an icon in playwriting.