Lesson 4: Characters and Their Roles

🟦 Introduction

Think of your favourite play or movie. Who did you admire—or dislike—the most? That’s the power of characters in drama. Characters bring the story to life. Through their words, actions, and decisions, we experience conflict, emotion, and themes.

In this lesson, you’ll learn the different types of characters, what roles they play in a story, and how to analyze them effectively for your WASSCE Literature questions.

🟩 Key Concepts and Explanations

1. What is a Character in Drama?

A character is a person (or sometimes an animal or supernatural being) who takes part in the events of a play. Characters are developed through:

• Dialogue (what they say)

• Actions (what they do)

• Other characters’ opinions

• Stage directions (how they behave or move)

🎭 Characters are the beating heart of every play—they make the story happen.

2. Types of Characters

3. Character Functions in Drama

Each character plays a role that helps move the plot or reveal a theme. Their function may include:

• Driving the conflict

• Representing ideas or social issues

• Creating emotional tension or humour

• Guiding the audience’s moral judgement

🧠 Ask: What is this character’s purpose in the story?

4. Characterization Techniques

Characterization is how the playwright builds a character.
This can be done through:

• Direct description (He enters, limping and frowning)

• Actions (e.g. betrayal, courage, kindness)

• Speech (tone, accent, vocabulary)

• Reactions of others (how others view or treat them)

5. Analyzing Characters in WASSCE

When answering WASSCE character questions, ask:

• What role does this character play?

• What are their strengths and flaws?

• How do they relate to the theme or conflict?

• Do they grow or change?

Use the P-E-E strategy (Point → Evidence → Explanation):

Example:

• Point: Elesin is a tragic hero.

• Evidence: He delays performing the ritual.

• Explanation: This failure causes cultural and spiritual breakdown, emphasizing the theme of duty.

🧭 Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Sample Excerpt:

STRANGER: Your gods cannot save you from wealth.
SOKARI: We do not welcome your kind here.
STRANGER (laughing): And yet, I already own your leader.

Step 1: Identify Characters

• Stranger: Represents foreign intrusion or greed

• Sokari: Defender of tradition and community

Step 2: Determine Character Types

• Stranger: Antagonist, Round, Static

• Sokari: Foil, Ally of the Protagonist

Step 3: Analyze Function

• Stranger drives the theme of colonial exploitation

• Sokari reflects cultural resistance and loyalty

🟨 Practice Exercises

Exercise A: Match Character Types

Descriptions:
A brave warrior who becomes a tyrant
A servant who always speaks in riddles
The villain who deceives everyone
A noble friend who never changes

Character Types:
A. Dynamic Character
B. Flat Character
C. Antagonist
D. Static Character

✅ Answers:

• Brave warrior – A. Dynamic Character

• Servant – B. Flat Character

• Villain – C. Antagonist

• Noble friend – D. Static Character

Exercise B: Short Character Analysis

Excerpt:

CHIEF: I made them rich. Why do they hate me now?
WIFE: Maybe you took too much and gave too little.

Questions:

1. What is Chief’s character flaw?

2. What theme does his character develop?

3. What role does Wife play?

✅ Answers:

1. Flaw: Greed / Selfish leadership

2. Theme: Corruption or abuse of power

3. Role: Wife serves as a voice of conscience or foil

Exercise C: Write a Character Profile

Choose any main character from a WASSCE play you’ve studied.
Write a paragraph explaining:

• Their role (e.g. protagonist, antagonist, foil)

• Two major traits with examples

• Their function in the play (e.g. to develop a theme, create conflict)

✔️ Tip: Use the P-E-E format for each trait.

🔁 Recap

In this lesson, you learned:

• Characters are central to drama—they make the action and themes real.

• Types include protagonist, antagonist, foil, dynamic, static, flat, and round.

• Characterization happens through speech, actions, stage directions, and other characters’ reactions.

• In WASSCE, always connect character traits to themes and plot outcomes.

🪞Reflection Prompt

Think of a character from a drama or movie who inspired or annoyed you.

• What role did they play?

• How did the writer reveal their traits?

• Did they change during the story?

Write 6–8 thoughtful sentences describing your view and how that character shaped the story’s direction.