New Approaches in the Analysis of the Contemporary Dramatic Character

The character is the core of dramaturgy. The current paper aims to present the newest research regarding the contemporary dramatic character. The study looks at the recent theoretical approaches that hold a double perspective on the character: as a writer's composition and as an actor's performance. The character is defined through his name, implication and role in the action, but also through his own discourse. Based on the connection between similarities and differences, each trait of a character facilitates the revelation of the whole image. The result is a microcosmic structure of a specific typology of characters, interconnected and interdependent. Certain specific, defining characteristics will be identified and, by the relational view, we will succeed to visualise the dramatic identity of the character. Such a reading pattern provides force to the characters analyzed, but also it permits the revealing and interpretation of the character as a complex ensemble which leads to new revelations on the meaning of contemporary plays.