Stock Characters- Propp’s Theory
Villain– Brother/ Dad
Victim– Richard
Father Figure– Polly
Donor– The Chicken
False Hero– Polly
Theme- Levi Strauss
Rich and Poor
Educated and Uneducated
Country and Town
Family Relationship and No Family Relationship
Sexual Relationship and Incest
What is it
It is a paradigm of dramatic structure outlining the seven key steps in successful storytelling: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement.
2. Rising Action= An exciting force or inciting event begins immediately after the exposition (introduction), building the rising action in one or several stages toward the point of greatest interest. These events are generally the most important parts of the story since the entire plot depends on them to set up the climax and ultimately the satisfactory resolution of the story itself.
3. Climax= The climax is the turning point, which changes the protagonist’s fate. If things were going well for the protagonist, the plot will turn against them, often revealing the protagonist’s hidden weaknesses. If the story is a comedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things going from bad to good for the protagonist, often requiring the protagonist to draw on hidden inner strengths.
4.Falling Action= During the falling action, the hostility of the counter-party beats upon the soul of the hero. Freytag lays out two rules for this stage: the number of characters be limited as much as possible, and the number of scenes through which the hero falls should be fewer than in the rising movement. The falling action may contain a moment of final suspense: Although the catastrophe must be foreshadowed so as not to appear as a non sequitur, there could be for the doomed hero a prospect of relief, where the final outcome is in doubt
Propp stock characters
| CATEGORY | FAMILIARITIES: | DIFFERENCES: | CATEGORY FAMILIARITIES: DIFFERENCES: THEORY |
| CHARACTERS | Polly – The dispatcher/ false hero. He wants Richard to have a better life so he leaves him for both of their benefit. He also acts like a hero as he shows himself working however he never provides for Richard. | PROPP, presents the idea of STOCK CHARACTERS, inc ‘hero’, ‘false hero’, ‘princess’, ‘father figure’, ‘despatcher’ | |
| THEMES | LEVI-STRAUSS the use of key themes to structure stories and characters around familiar themes: family, community, law and order, justice. Often set up as binary oppostions: right/wrong urban/rural, young/old, good/bad |
Propp characters
Annabel- hero
Polly- villain/ father figure / false hero / victim
Richard- victim / princess
Chicken- the helper/ donor
Guy from fair- father figure
| villain | Polly/the mum |
| hero | Anabelle |
| victim | Richard |
| donor | chicken |
| false hero | Polly |
Propp’s Character Stocks
Hero – Annabelle
False Hero – Polly
Father – Polly / Guy from scrapyard/fair
Victim – Richard
Villain – Mother
The Dispatcher / The Helper – The Chicken
Levi-Strauss Binary Oppositions
Rich vs Poor / Life vs Death /
– Desapite the CSP being based on institution, this post is just an activity to brainstorm on narrative theory ideas.
Propp’s Theory
| Protagonist | Richard |
| False Hero | Richards Mother |
| Antagonist | Polly |
| Helper/Princess | Anabelle |
| Helper/victim | Chicken |
Vladimir Propp – Stock Characters
The hero – Richard
The Antagonist – Polly
The false Hero – Richard and Polly’s mother
The Helper – Annabell
The donor – The chicken
The princess – Annabell
The Dispatcher – Polly
Levi-Strauss – Binary Oppositions
Young vs Old (Richard and Polly)
Rich vs poor (Annabell and Richard)
Able vs Disable (
Rural vs Urban
| CATEGORY | FAMILIARITIES: | DIFFERENCES: | THEOR |
| CHARACTERS | PROPP, presents the idea of STOCK CHARACTERS, inc ‘hero’, ‘false hero’, ‘princess’, ‘father figure’, ‘despatcher’ | ||
| THEMES | LEVI-STRAUSS the use of key themes to structure stories and characters around familiar themes: family, community, law and order, justice. Often set up as binary oppostions: right/wrong urban/rural, young/old, good/bad | ||
| Propp | Levi-Strausse | ||
| Characters | Mum – false hero Richard – protagonist Polly – Father figure Annabelle – Princess/hero Chicken – hero | ||
| Themes | – calm/angry (polly) – law/order (theft) – lower/upper class – rural/urban |
| Theory | |||
| Characters | Polly= Father figure= False hero because he leaves Richard. | PROPP, presents the idea of STOCK CHARACTERS, inc ‘hero’, ‘false hero’, ‘princess’, ‘father figure’, ‘despatcher’ | |
| Annabelle= Hero because she takes Richard in and helps him whilst becoming friends | PROPP, presents the idea of STOCK CHARACTERS, inc ‘hero’, ‘false hero’, ‘princess’, ‘father figure’, ‘despatcher’ | ||
| Richard= Protagonist | PROPP, presents the idea of STOCK CHARACTERS, inc ‘hero’, ‘false hero’, ‘princess’, ‘father figure’, ‘despatcher’ |