Sunday 4 October 2009

Vladimir Propp

Propp analysed over 100 Russian fairy tales in the 1920's, he proposed that it was possible to classify the characters and their actions into clearly Defined Roles and "functions". I'm going to put Propp's theory into practice with the example of the film Shrek 2-




The character of Shrek plays the Hero in this movie, because he "seeks something", which is to get the love of Princess Fiona back.






The character of the Fairy Godmother plays the Villian in this movie, because she "opposes the hero", she does this by giving King Harold a love potion to put into Princess Fiona's drink so she will fall in love with Prince Charming and not Shrek.





The character of Puss in boots plays the Dispatcher as when he is unable to defeat Shrek he "sends the hero on his way" by sending him to sneak into the Fairy Godmother's potion factory to steal a Happily Ever After potion that Shrek believes will restore Fiona's love for him.





The character of Prince Charming plays the False Hero as he "falsely assumes the hero role" he does this by deceiving Fiona into believing that he is Shrek, having been turned human by a "Happily Ever After" potion just so he can marry her and become King.




The character of the donkey plays the Helper as he is constantly "giving support to the hero" whether it be by accompanying him to the Far Far Away Kingdom or drinking the Happily Ever After Potion with him or helping stop the Fairy Godmothers plans into making Fiona marrying Charming.





The character Princess Fiona plays the Princess as she is the "reward for the hero" at the end of the movie.







The character King Harold plays the Father as he is Princess Fiona's dad and is "very protective" over her and will go to great lengths to make sure she has the best.




1 comment:

  1. Olivia.

    This is a good start. However your absense this week means that you are not aware of what we expect from your blog. You should endeavour to blog AFTER every lesson and link what we've learn't to media you are familiar with (like you've done with Shrek) as well as discussing the preliminary exercises you have undertaken.

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