CHAPTER VI CHARACTERIZATION 88. Character and Characterization. In a careful analysis, one may distinguish the character itself, the reader's conception of it, the author's conception, and his presentation. In a broad sense, the last three items belong to characterization; but in strictly technical meaning, the term applies only to the presentation. Unless they represent actual persons, the characters of a novel exist, as individuals, only in the minds of author and reader; though in a figurative sense we call a character "real" when it produces a distinct illusion of reality. Human beings are fashioned by nature, society, their own wills, and, according to orthodox thought, the supernatural : the characters of fiction are fashioned by the artistic imagination. Association with some fictitious beings may cause a more vital experience than association with some real persons; but a sane mind will not confuse the two forms of experience. Such common statements as that of Ruskin, "To my father . . . the characters of Shakespearian comedy were all familiar personal friends,"1 have great interest, but we recognize their figurative quality at once. The question whether fictitious individuals really exist as types may be suggestive for æsthetics, but seems to belong more properly to metaphysics. Even if the novelist reproduces the appearance, speech, 1 Præterita: Macugnaga. or action of historical individuals in accurate detail, the total effect is imaginary, because of the large fictitious element in the environment. Some novelists have affirmed that a character once intensely conceived by the imagination, seems to assume a volitional life of its own. This fact is important in the study of the aesthetic and psychological aspects of the creative process, but it does not alter the scientific truth that the novelist is really the sole creator of his character. The novelist cannot evade the responsibility implied in Lanier's question:— process common to ordinary experience, several arts, biography, history, the lyric, and all forms of plot-literature. It has a fairly distinct mode for the novel, in a peculiar combination of points, if not in any one point. No other literary type shows, as a matter of history, a presentation of character in such "Detaildarstellung "2 of environment, physical and social. Yet, in contrast with the stage drama, the novel can at will describe the inner elements of charaeter without any accompanying physical imagery. In no other form of art are the relations of direct and indirect characterization so intricate. The combination of intensive and extensive study of individual character is most striking in the novel. Psychological analysis, in a strict sense, is more elaborate than in any other type of art. In the lyric, it may possibly be as intense and direct, but it cannot be as prolonged. The 1 Individuality. 2 Baumgart: Handbuch der Poetik. gradual development of character, according to many critics, is the special function of the novel. These characteristics are partially explained by the great length of the novel, its facile interweaving of dramatic and non-dramatic form, and its use of prose. Other characteristics may be readily noted. In sculpture and painting there is the medium of a visible image of character; in the stage drama, the medium of a visible and audible real person. In all forms of literature these sensuous values can only be suggested. 90. Character Unfolding.—The scheme given in Section 77 will indicate the first, intermediate, and final appearances of important characters, and the general environment of each appearance. The main method of unfolding may be in mass or in solution; usually there is a distinct combination of both methods. Tendency to mass the chief characterization at the principal turning-points of the plot may be designated as initial, climactic, and catastrophic unfolding. The prevailing method of modern realism is probably cumulative-a discovery of character by the gradually increasing momentum of items often trivial enough if taken separately. The first and last appearances have a certain inevitable emphasis. Some conventional methods of introducing characters are apparently modeled after the drama and epic. Initial soliloquy in the drama combines the physiognomy, pantomime, and speech. This formula is impossible in the novel, and the substitution of an initial physical description followed by speech often seems artificial and ineffective. A preliminary introduction may be given in the title, preface, or prologue. Abrupt introduction often produces the effect of romantic, even sensational, surprise, as to some degree in George Eliot's first mention of Eppie. Riemann1 has made a very interesting analysis of Goethe's methods of introducing characters. A study of the last appearance—the "dismissal"—may naturally be connected with the general study of catastrophe (Section 52). Some characters slip out of the narrative so quietly one is scarcely aware of their absence. In general, in the modern novel, important characters are given a definite dismissal, though it may not be quite so formal as in early fiction. The hero and heroine are frequently last mentioned as still alive, and perhaps their future is sketched. The novelist often seems as reluctant to leave his favorite characters as the political orator is to close his argument. 91. Appellation. — The names and other designations of a character may be realistic or romantic; individualizing, or typical of nationality, historical period, occupation, temperament, etc. Occasionally-usually with romantic connotation-an important character is designated as "the unknown" or "the unnamed." Minor characters are often indicated only by type, after the models of the herald of Greek drama, or the clown, servant, citizen of Shakespearian drama. The title of a novel frequently gives a suggestive appellation for the chief character, as in the Man of Feeling, Last of the Barons, the Wandering Jew. In early types of romance there may be repeated epithetical formulas, similar to those in epic poetry. Different aspects of the same character may be indicated by different designation. In Jack Wilton, the hero is variously known as "my young lad," "wise young Wilton," "King of the Drunkards," "King of the Pages," etc. A radical change of name, especially in romance, may denote pronounced change in the external or inner history of a 1 Goethes Romantechnik: Die Einführung der Personen. character. The career of Amadis of Gaul is so marked in part in Euphues, the conversion of a character is emphasized by changing his name from Atheos to Theophilus. When these different names are distributed between the author and the dramatis personæ, they may have considerable importance in dramatic characterization. To George Eliot, her hero is generally "Silas " or "poor Silas," even when he is imagined as much older than herself; among the dramatis personæ, he is "dad," "old Marner," "the miser," etc. The heroine of Pride and Prejudice is almost invariably “Elizabeth" to her creator; but to the other characters she is known as Eliza, Lizzie, Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and so on. 92. Physiognomy. - The physical appearance may have a pictorial interest for its own sake, or it may be of great service in revealing the mental and moral nature. It is almost entirely through bodily phenomena that we become acquainted with character in real life, and the novelist often makes detailed and effective application of this truth. The physiognomy of an individual combines a nearly constant element, including stature, moulding of the fea tures, color of eyes and hair, etc., with an element always changing according to physical and mental condition. Both elements are frequently given close attention in the novel; the latter is of particular value in all genuine study of the dynamic relations of soul and body. It is comparatively easy to image and remember striking individual details of physiognomy, or general types of figure and face; the middle ground is much less impressive. It is difficult for the average mind to retain a distinct image, even of an intimate friend, for any considerable period, without the aid of actual presence or photographic suggestion. Again, the effect of a given bodily appearance depends much on the state of the observer himself. Strong moral idealism may dwell so intently on beauty of character that |