Stock characters

Definition

Stock characters are stereotypical fictional characters that are instantly recognizable and often recur across various literary works. These characters embody specific traits and roles, such as the 'damsel in distress' or the 'wise old mentor,' making them easily identifiable to the audience. In the context of Restoration Drama and Poetry, stock characters helped convey humor, satire, and social commentary through their exaggerated traits and predictable behaviors.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Stock characters played a significant role in Restoration Drama, often providing comedic relief and emphasizing social commentary on the time's morals and behaviors.
2. These characters are designed to represent broad categories of personality types, allowing playwrights to quickly establish context and relationships in their stories.
3. In many Restoration plays, stock characters were often involved in romantic entanglements, creating humorous situations that reflected the complexities of love and courtship.
4. The use of stock characters allowed playwrights to critique societal norms while entertaining the audience with familiar scenarios.
5. While stock characters may seem simplistic, their presence in literature highlights deeper themes of identity, social roles, and human behavior.

Review Questions

• How do stock characters enhance the comedic elements in Restoration Drama?
  • Stock characters enhance the comedic elements in Restoration Drama by providing recognizable archetypes that the audience can easily relate to. Their exaggerated traits and predictable behaviors create humor through absurd situations and misunderstandings. By using these familiar character types, playwrights could quickly establish comedic scenarios that engage the audience while simultaneously critiquing societal norms and behaviors prevalent during the Restoration period.
• Discuss how the use of stock characters reflects the social commentary found in Restoration Poetry.
  • The use of stock characters in Restoration Poetry serves as a vehicle for social commentary by embodying the traits and behaviors that the poets sought to critique. Characters such as the fop or the rake symbolize specific societal flaws, allowing poets to address issues like vanity, hypocrisy, and moral decay. By employing these familiar figures, poets could convey their critiques effectively while engaging readers with wit and humor.
• Evaluate the impact of stock characters on contemporary literature and media, considering their origins in Restoration Drama.
  • Stock characters have had a lasting impact on contemporary literature and media, evolving from their origins in Restoration Drama into modern storytelling. They continue to serve as shorthand for certain personality types, enabling quick audience recognition while also providing opportunities for subversion and innovation. In today's narratives, writers may play with or deconstruct these archetypes to challenge audience expectations or highlight deeper themes, demonstrating how these once-simple character types can still resonate meaningfully in complex ways.

Related terms

Archetype: An original model or type that serves as a basis for others, representing universal patterns of human nature often found in literature.

Caricature: A portrayal that exaggerates certain characteristics or traits of a person or character for comic or critical effect.

Comedy of Manners: A genre of comedy that satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often featuring stock characters to highlight societal norms.