Characterization in Theatre

Drama, topic 5(b) Consider how playwrights make characters speak in plays which you have studied and say how the language and tone of these dialogues, conversations or monologues contribute to each play as a whole. Characters in plays have real human characteristics and capacities. In fact, the success of a play may depend on how "real" the characters seem. However, characters in plays, just like characters in fiction, are like real people, but are not …

…they are also there to function as types--that is, they are also intended to represent ideas. In A Streetcar Named Desire, for example, Blanche clearly represents a way of life that is disappearing in the post-World War II world, while Stanley represents a way of life that is replacing it--indeed, actively destroying it. Seen in this way, the characters take on greater dimensions. And they force us to look at our own beliefs and values.