Protagonist

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The protagonist is often the main character (the central or main figure) of a story. However, the terms protagonist, main character and hero are variously (and rarely well) defined, and depending on the source, may denote different concepts. The word "protagonist" derives from the Greek πρωταγωνιστής (protagonistes), "one who plays the first part, chief actor";^[1]^[2] but in some plots, the main character is not the actual protagonist.

In classical and later theater, a protagonist is specifically a character undergoing a dramatic change (peripeteia), both of his own character traits and external circumstances. When the plot goes from order to chaos, as in a tragedy, a reversal of fortune can bring about the downfall of the protagonist, usually an exceptional individual, as a result of a tragic flaw (hamartia) in his personality. In a plot going from chaos to order, as in a comedy, the protagonist can go from misfortune to prosperity, or from obscurity to prominence.

The story of the protagonist may be told from the perspective of a different character (who may also, but not necessarily, be the narrator). In such cases, it may be helpful to define the character through whose perspective the plot is followed as the main character, the main character having here a separate function from the protagonist. An example would be a narrator who relates the fate of several protangonists, perhaps as prominent figures recalled in a biographical perspective.

The principal opponent of the protagonist is a character known as the antagonist, who represents or creates obstacles that the protagonist(s) must overcome. As with protagonists, there may be more than one antagonist in a story.(Note that the term antagonist in this context is much more recent than the term protagonist, and rests on the same misconception as the use of protagonist to mean a proponent. See below.)

Sometimes, a work will initially highlight a particular character, as though being the protagonist, and then unexpectedly dispose of that character, as a dramatic device. Such a character is called a false protagonist.

1 Usage
2 See also
3 References

When the work contains subplots, these may have different protagonists from the main plot. In some novels, the protagonists may be impossible to pick out, because multiple plots in the novel do not permit clear identification of one as the main plot, as in Alexander Solzhenitsyn's The First Circle, depicting a variety of characters imprisoned and living in a gulag camp.

[edit] Usage

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[edit] Protagonist or protagonists

In an ancient Greek drama, the protagonist was the leading actor, and as such, there could only be one protagonist in a play.^{[citation needed]} However the word has been used in the plural to mean 'important actors' or 'principal characters' since at least 1671, when John Dryden wrote, "Tis charg'd upon me that I make debauch'd persons... my protagonists, or the chief persons of the drama."^[3]

[edit] Protagonist as proponent

The use of 'protagonist' in place of 'proponent' became common in the 20th century and may have been influenced by a misconception that the first syllable of the word represents the prefix "pro-" (i.e. 'favoring') rather than "proto-", meaning first (as opposed to "deuter-", second, as in deuteragonist, or "tri-", third, in tritagonist). For example, usage such as "He was an early protagonist of nuclear power" can be replaced by 'advocate' or 'proponent'.^[3]

[edit] Protagonist in psychodrama

In psychodrama, the "protagonist" is the person (group member, patient or client) who decides to enact some significant aspect of his life, experiences or relationships on stage with the help of the psychodrama director and other group members, taking supplementary roles as auxiliary egos.