: Re: What, exactly, is a character study? Critics and writers use the term "character study" a lot, usually to describe works that are especially 'literary' such as The Remains of the Day. Despite

@Samaraweera193

Vote Up Vote Down

From what I understand in the times I have seen it a character study is when a writer takes a well known character archetype (take many of Shakespeare’s major character and plot archetypes for example) and reuses it in a new and original way that deepens its use, but doesn’t branch too far off of it.

I think it is also usually reserved for literary critique as the intent behind the character is to be a literary ode to the original archetype and a sort of study into the qualities of this type of character, not a rework of a familiar character for ease of writing. e.g. Gandalf may be seen as a character study of Merlin. I couldn’t give you too many examples though as I don’t really read many genre’s that would fit well into the literary field.

(0)

Login to post a comment!