Protagonist and Antagonist
Introduced| English |
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| protagonist/ˈprəʊtəɡənɪst/ |
The definitions are broader than students expect
- The main character in a narrative is the protagonist 主人公.
- The antagonist opposes the protagonist — and may be another character, the internal conflicts of the protagonist, a collective (such as society), or nature.
- So an antagonist need not be a person, and in a short story it very often is not.
The antagonist needs no cape; sometimes the protagonist’s own indecision has the job.
Select all the things the CED says an antagonist may be.
Nature completes the list; the reader is not in the narrative.
They may represent contrasting values
- Protagonists and antagonists may represent contrasting values.
- That is the link back to conflict: opposition is a clash of values, not merely of interests.
- So naming an antagonist is only useful once you can name the value it stands for.
What kind of antagonist is this?
Sort each opposing force by the CED's four categories.
Naming an antagonist is enough for an analysis.
It is useful only once you can name the value it stands for.
The protagonist as their own antagonist
- The CED explicitly allows the antagonist to be the internal conflicts of the protagonist.
- In that case the contrasting values are both inside one person.
- This is the most common shape in modern short fiction, and the one students most often miss.
The antagonist shape students most often miss is...
In that shape both contrasting values sit inside one person.
An antagonist need not be a person. The CED lists another character, the protagonist's own internal conflicts, a collective such as society, and nature. Searching only for a villain misses the shape most modern short fiction actually uses.
A collective or natural antagonist cannot be ____, which is usually why the text chose it.
A set of expectations no character states can never be argued with.
Society and nature as antagonists
- A collective antagonist is a set of expectations no single character enforces.
- Nature as antagonist obstructs without intending anything, which changes what the conflict can mean.
- Neither can be persuaded, and that is usually why the text chose them.
Match each pair to the values it contrasts.
Nature obstructs without intending anything — indifference, not malice.
A contrast pass on characters
- Name the protagonist. Name what opposes them, using all four CED options.
- Name the value each side stands for.
- Then say what the contrast makes visible that neither side alone would show.
She wants to leave; nobody stops her. The antagonist is a collective — a set of expectations about who stays with an ageing parent — which no character in the story states and every character assumes. It cannot be argued with, which is precisely why the story ends where it does.
The protagonist is the main character; the antagonist may be another character, the protagonist's internal conflicts, a collective such as society, or nature. They may represent contrasting values — so name the value each side stands for, not just the sides.