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Dramatica Theory Book
Chapter
8: Complex Motivation Characteristics
(Continued)
Complex
Characters in
Gone With the Wind
Simply "Gone
With The Wind"
As an exercise, let's
take a look at how the Motivation characteristics are represented and
combined in some familiar well-written stories. Why don't we tackle something
simple like Gone With the Wind.
"Simple?" you say. In terms of thematics, Gone With the
Wind is an extremely rich and complex story. But in terms of the
characters, GWTW is no more complex than any of the other
stories we have analyzed so far. Let's see how.
Scarlett and Rhett
A list of the most
notable Characters might include: Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler, Ashley
Wilkes, Melanie Wilkes, Scarlett's sister Suellen, Frank Kennedy, Scarlett's
father Gerald O'Hara, and Prissy. Taking them one at a time, we can see
the stuff they are made of.
Intuitively, we sense that Scarlett and Rhett are the two most important
characters. Looking at the 16 characteristics, Scarlett is clearly Pursue.
She pursues Rhett, she pursues Ashley, she pursues the tax money, she
pursues a fortune. She is motivated to get people to consider things they
normally would not. Based on this analysis we will call Scarlett PURSUE
and CONSIDERATION.
Rhett, on the other hand, spends most of his time avoiding. He avoids
getting involved in the war, and by his contraband dealings he avoids
financial hardship. He avoids Scarlett's advances, avoids the firing squad,
avoids paying her the tax money, and on and on. Nonetheless, it is Rhett
that continually urges Scarlett (and everyone else) to reconsider their
actions. So Rhett comes down as AVOID and RECONSIDERATION.
Comparing Scarlett to Rhett, each contains one action characteristic and
one decision characteristic. Solely in terms of Motivations, Scarlett
and Rhett are Archetypal Protagonist and Antagonist.
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