The protagonist is the protagonist

A protagonist is an actor who has the right to play the first role in a tragedy. With this concept are connected some interesting moments in theatrical and cinematographic art. Also, the protagonist is the protagonist in the ancient Greek tragedy or drama.

Etymology of the word

There was this concept from the Greek roots, denoting "first", "compete", "fighter". If you combine all these clues, it would be simpler to assume that the meaning of the word "protagonist" is in the word "winner." After all, the first person to compete in wrestling is the one who managed to win. However, the meaning of this word was different. And it was connected with the appearance of the ancient tragedy of Thesspas in Athens in 534 BC.

Who is a protagonist in contemporary art?

Today the meaning of this concept has expanded. The protagonist is already the protagonist of not only tragedy, but also a film, a literary work and even a computer game. And sometimes in the work appear false protagonists - heroes, who in the beginning make the impression of the main, and then disappear altogether. This was the case in 1960. It was then on the screens of cinemas that the sensational films "Adventure" and "Psycho" were shown.

The difference between the concepts of the protagonist in the classics and contemporary art

Typically, the works feature a protagonist and antagonist or a group of antagonists. In classic creations, the negative heroes are opposed to the good-natured villains. They, antagonists, prevent the protagonist from achieving his goals. Or the positive hero himself fights against them - this is the basis for the classic plot. In modern art, everything is much more complicated. Often a protagonist is the negative villain who is trying to grab and neutralize the positive heroes. However, as, for example, in the film "Fantomas", positive antagonists cause laughter and irony, but the protagonist, despite his position in society, sympathizes with the main character himself. The same is observed in modern criminal fighters, for example, in a series of works by Yevgeny Sukhov about a thief in the law of Varyag.

You can not identify the author with the main character!

Interesting is this fact: the reader in his majority believes that the writer necessarily puts a part of his soul in the image of the hero. And the viewer often identifies the actor with the role played by him. However, this is not always the case. Rather even - almost always not so. A protagonist is a person whom the author observes as if from the outside. A good writer can not clearly explain his attitude to the characters. Suffice it to recall the remarkable phrase that characterizes Leo Tolstoy, that he is a mirror of Russian life. That is, the author is not a protagonist, he is not even sympathetic to him. He is a reflector, a magnifying glass, if you will.

The author can in his work raise a topic that excites him, but illuminate it in such a way as to attract the attention of the public, even going against its moral foundations. Making people talk about something, excite standing water - that's the main purpose of creativity. And how good the protagonist is, how moral his actions are, does not give a guarantee that the writer himself is a deeply decent person, spiritually perfect. As well as describing the life of prostitutes, their experiences and difficulties - not the person who advocates "night butterflies."

The film "RoboKop" vividly demonstrates this position. The protagonist here for a while changes himself, turning from a positive hero into a villain. And the author does not position himself either as a "cop", as a robot or as a villain. He simply fantasizes, simultaneously laying in the minds of the public the idea that one should not joke with nature, that man is unique, that all sorts of experiments on the brain are fraught with terrible consequences.