How to Absorb the Characteristics of a Fictional Character

One of the most fascinating aspects of watching films or reading great literature is that doing so allows us to enter the worlds of fictional characters. It offers us a kind of escape and after our encounter with the fictional character we often want to emulate them in our own lives. Follow these steps to learn how to absorb the characteristics of a fictional character.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Focus on the qualities of the fictional character. Look closely at how they walk, how they speak and how they regard life. For example, the character may have a unique way of articulating their inner feelings. A slight shrug of the shoulders that indicates indifference, a darkening of the pupils that suggests desire are nuances that can be absorbed and used in your own life.
2. Open yourself to the character's unique qualities. Many times, we are drawn to fictional characters because they have qualities we do not possess and wish to have in our lives. Gustave Flaubert's Emma Bovary is a character of great passion who wants to transcend her life of suburban drudgery and who insists on creating a world where desire is dominant.
3. Look beneath the character's words and actions to the meaning underlying them. In films, novels and plays, characters use action and dialogue as methods of communication, but to absorb their characteristics we must understand the subtext (the feelings and background beneath words and actions). For instance, when watching the film "300," we can look past King Leonidas' violence and see the profound courage and independence he conveys through his actions. By doing so, we can absorb these qualities.
4. Train yourself to appreciate subtlety. There are thousands of small details that convey character in literature and film. Everything from the manner of dress to the method of speech reveals something to us. In Ibsen's "A Doll's House," the character Nora expresses her unhappiness in the tiny ways she chooses to deceive her husband. These deceptions speak volumes about what she really wants and who she is.
5. Apprehend the character as a real person with fine qualities and intense foibles. To fully absorb any fictional character, one must value both the desirable and undesirable qualities they possess. Understand that it is the delicate balance of the two that makes the character unique.