Narrative Theory - Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic and in the 1920's analysed over 100 Russian fairy-tales. He believed it was possible to classify every character into a certain 'type' and their actions throughout the film into defined roles. His theory is useful as it is able to show similarities and connect completely different films together, however sometimes it doesn't work or isn't as easy as it seems to put any character from a film into one of his character types; it mostly works for fairy-tales.

Below are Propp's 8 character types and their roles which he describes as functions that are needed in order to make a storyline. With changing values in society (especially when it comes to fairytales) I believe Propp's character types are still relevant, however can be changed in ways such as one character taking on two roles or just one of the character types not existing as they may not be relevant.

Character Type	Role within narrative
The Hero	Leads narrative, usually seeks something such as a quest or try’s to solve a mystery
Villain	Gets in the hero’s way or try’s to disrupt the hero and sabotage the hero’s end goal.
Heroine	This is a prize or reward for the hero, usually in the form of a prince or princess that the hero has been fighting to save from the villain (snow white, sleeping beauty, cinderella). Can possess something the hero and villain are after.
Father	Doesn't necessarily have to be a father however is an authority figure usually of the heroine or hero.
Helper	The helper helps the hero by offering support, they would often act as a sidekick
Donor	The donor can help the hero by providing them with something whether that may be an object, advice, information or a special power that would help them complete their quest
Mentor	The mentor teaches and guides the hero and would send them on their way
False Hero	A character that falsely assumes the role of a hero

I will now take the example of a Disney film 'Frozen' and apply the characters in it to Propp's theory.

 

Ana = Hero. Propp implied that the hero would usually be male but this goes against some modern contemporary media texts where for example Ana is the hero in 'Frozen' as she sets off on a quest to find her sister, help her and bring back summer to Arendale.

 

Prince Hans = This character takes on two roles one being the Villain and the other being the False Hero. This is because he falsely assumes the role of a hero whilst he deceives the people of Arendale that his intentions are good and that he is the hero when in fact he is a villain that is trying to ruin Ana's quest of helping and finding her sister, by trying to kill her (Elsa).

 

Elsa = In this film Elsa acts as the Heroine. This is because should Ana succeed in her quest to find her, Elsa will be her reward. The hero has been fighting to try and safe her sister and the villain is also after her to try and kill her. Ana earns her reward as she sacrifices her own life for her sister's when Elsa unfreezes due to their love for each other. This is also a different take on Propp's typical character roles because it is one of the few films that teaches children that love can be strong in many ways; not only through a romantic relationship (which frozen reveals, can be deceiving), but through the love for a sister. In the beginning Elsa also acts as a father in terms of authority having authority over Ana as she asks for her blessing to marry Prince Hans due to the fact her parents are deceased. Elsa shows she is definitely not in favour of this marriage due to how unrealistic it is, therefore taking on the role of a parent/father too.

 

Christoph = Christoph helps the hero and acts as their sidekick both on the road to finding Elsa and when Ana accidentally gets struck by Elsa in the heart as he rushes her to the man who Ana thinks is her 'one true love' as that is the only thing that would cure her. He offers her support and is therefore the Helper.

 

Olaf = In this instance I believe Olaf is the Donor and Mentor as he donates his advice to Ana as she is about to give up and die by telling her that 'some people are worth melting for' reminding her that love is strong and she must fight for her sister, also by encouraging and helping her get out of the locked room and realise Christoph is her real true love whom she must kiss in order to heal (which leads onto her sacrificing the kiss and her life, for her sister).

 

Sfen = Sfen is Christoph's raindeer that takes Ana and Christoph to Elsa's palace therefore, even though he is known to be Christoph's sidekick, he can be considered Ana's (the hero's) helper or possibly even her donor, as without Sfen, Ana wouldn't have been able to reach Elsa.

As you can see, some characters take on two roles and two different characters can have the same role, therefore even though I do for the majority agree with Propp's theory I believe it needs to be updated to fit in with modern contemporary media texts or could just have some flexibility in saying that some of the rules can be changed depending on the story and it's characters.