Character Analysis Essay: One of the most difficult essays for literature and English students to write is the character analysis essay because not only do we need critical and logical thinking abilities to dissect a character but you need emotional angle iced with personal preferences to analyse different nuances and shades in the character.
In this particular article on character analysis essay, we shall be addressing the following questions that one might have while writing a character analysis essay in English
- What is a character analysis essay?
- How to write a character analysis essay?
- What are the factors that should be avoided in a character analysis essay?
- Example of a character analysis essay
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What is a Character Analysis Essay?
A good literature student will be able to understand that a character analysis essay is just not about defining a character with two poles. While we read a story or watch a movie or some art forms, we divide the characters into good or bad or black or white for North or south but a good literature student will understand that one particular character will have a lot of shades and grey areas that one needs to concentrate on if you want to write a good character analysis essay.
There are plenty of nuances that are involved that one should concentrate while writing a character analysis essay such as the nature of the character, the relationship of the character with the major and minor characters, the impact of the character on the story entire storyline and the tone and texture of the personality of the character, the dialogues or statements made by the character and much more.
When we write a character analysis essay on one particular character, one needs to remember that the whole essay should not concentrate on just that particular character but we need to dissect the relationship and the synchronisation of that particular character with other characters in the story, be it minor or major.
How to Write a Character Analysis Essay?
To begin with, one needs to thoroughly read the story between the lines or watch the movie between the scenes to understand one particular character because it is the human tendency that we might lose some important nuances and shades of the given character that will have a major impact on the personality of the same. For example, if we can talk about the character of Joker in the Batman series, there are plenty of grey areas that are involved and the angle with which a reader or audience looks at that particular character reflects on the thought process of the reader.
For one, Joker might be a villain, for the other, a joker might come across as a hero or for that matter, for another, a joker might be just a foolish person who is trying to destroy the world. Be it whatever angle or the prism with which we look at a character, an essay on a character analysis should be written in a neutral and equilibrium manner where our personal biases and idiosyncrasies are kept at bay, to say the least.
A good character analysis essay should contain the personality of the character in question, the relationship of the character with other characters in the story, the impact of the character for the storyline and the climax and last but definitely not the least, the grey area of the particular character that will only be observed if the reader is capable of reading between the lines. One has to be a very keen observer to understand the different traits of a character because it will simply be unfair if we align one particular trait to a character because it is the human tendency that one particular character can have many shades of the same trait or many traits and that is the reason a good character analysis essay should contain an overall 360-degree view of the personality of the particular character.
To base, a particular character into silos will be an injustice to the writer because a good storybook would contain a storyline where characters are not placed in particular silos and isolated. For example, if we consider the great Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, the particular trait of Julius Caesar being a Roman Dictator has been overshadowed by his generosity and strong military capabilities but a good reader will read between the lines and understand the different nuances associated with that particular character.
And the same holds true for other main characters in Julius Caesar such as Brutus or Antony. If you write a character analysis on Julius Caesar, you simply can’t ignore his relationship with Brutus, Anthony and other characters, his impact on the outcome of the story and certain particular stanzas should be reserved for how the story would have turned out if the character didn’t exist or if the traits of the characters were different.
What are the Factors That Should Be Avoided While Writing A Character Analysis Essay?
One might assume that writing a character analysis, essay each and every aspect of the story should be put in the essay and make it complicated and unnecessary, but a good essay would contain important aspects of the storyline that is directly or indirectly related to the character in question. One should definitely avoid personal biases about the particular character while writing a character analysis essay and the essay should be kept as neutral as possible.
Including irrelevant characters and irrelevant parts of the storyline that has nothing to do with the character in question is something that should particularly be avoided while writing a character analysis essay. Along with that, one needs to keep in mind that the essay should as crisp and brief as possible because your essay is not the highlight of the storyline, but it is a highlight of the particular character and hence one should keep in mind that the story is not what we are concentrating on but the particular character in the storyline should be the main focus.
The most important thing to avoid in a character analysis essay is to put the particular character in one particular silo. Once we put a particular character in one silo, we are narrowing our line of thought and that will not do justice for the character, because of which we have to explore all the possible shades of traits that the character might have.
Example of a Character Analysis Essay
One of the best examples that every literature student should learn for a character analysis essay is that of the character of Joker in Batman created by Bilfinger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson. We have chosen this particular character because we can analyse different aspects of the character through different lenses and prism and still arrive at one particular point of junction for this character called joker.
Joker has always been portrayed as a villain both in comic books and movies as well as TV series but the usual perception of Joker among the general public is a hero. There are different reasons people have depending on their perception of the storyline about whether the Joker is good or bad. But a good character analysis essay should not put the Joker either into a good basket or a bad basket but should give a 360-degree analysis of the character and the different colours that are associated with him as well as his relationship with Batman or Robin and other characters in the storyline and his impact on the overall storyline.
Weather Joker was evil or good should be left to the reader and the essay should not be the judge of it.