Antagonist - Academic Mode

Antagonist definition
In literature, an antagonist is a character or group of characters facing the protagonist, the main character. The term "antagonist" comes from the Greek word antagonistēs, which means "opponent," "competitor," "or" rival. "

It is common to refer to an antagonist as a villain (the bad guy) against whom a hero (the Good) fights to save himself or others. In some cases, an antagonist may exist within the protagonist causing an internal conflict or moral conflict in his mind. This internal conflict is a major subject of many literary works, such as Doctor Faustus von Christopher Marlowe, Hamlet by William Shakespeare and A Portrait of a Artist as A Young Man, by James Joyce. In general, an antagonist appears as a slide for the main character and embodies characteristics that are in contrast to the characteristics of the main character der Literatur
Example 1: Antigone (by Sophocles)
A c A classic example of an antagonist is that of King Creon in Soph okles' tragedy Antigone. Here the function of the antagonist is to impede the progress of the main character through evil conspiracies and actions. Antigone, the protagonist, fights against King Creon, the antagonist. In her quest to give her brother a respectable burial. Through his evil intentions, Creon tries to prevent her from doing this by announcing that her brother is a traitor and deciding that “he must be left to the elements. This protagonist-antagonist conflict becomes the theme of this tragedy.

Example # 2: Othello (By William Shakespeare)
Another example of an antagonist is the character of Iago in Shakespeare's Othello. Iago stands as one of the most notorious villains of all time, having spent all his time plotting against Othello, the protagonist, and his wife Desdemona.Through his evil plans, Iago convinces Othello that his wife has been cheating on him, and even convinces him to kill his own wife even though she is faithful to him. What separates Iago from other antagonists is that we don't really know why he wants to destroy Othello.

Example # 3: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (By Robert Louis Stevenson)
In his novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson explores the doppelganger theme in which Hyde is not just an evil double for the honorable Dr. Jekyll, but his antagonist. Jekyll creates Hyde through a series of scientific experiments to prove his statement:

"Man is not really one but really two."

It means that a human soul is a mixture of evil and good In other words, the antagonist of one every human being exists in himself. Hyde is the manifestation of evil that resides in the honorable Dr. Jekyll existed. Known as a respectable Victorian gentleman, Jekyll could never have granted his bad wishes. He separated his "bad". self ”and gave it its own identity, inventing its own antagonist, who consequently brings its downfall.

Example 4: Killing a Mocking Bird (by Harper Lee)
Bob Ewell is a malicious antagonist in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird. Convinced that Mayella may have committed a crime, Ewell is anxious to see that someone else receives the sentence. Ewell continues to follow Atticus, Judge Taylor, and Helen Robinson, even after the case is over, reaching the point where he nearly kills the Finch children. In defense of Boo for the murder of Bob Ewell, Heck Tate said:

"In my way of thinking, Mr. Finch, take the one man who has done you and this town a great favor and drag him with his timid ways to it. center of attention, to me, that's a sin. I'm not going to have it in my head. If I were any other man, I'd be different. But not this man, Mr. Finch. "

Role of the antagonist
Conflict is a basic element of any plot. The presence of an antagonist next to a The protagonist is vital to the typical formula of a plot. The antagonist opposes the protagonist in his efforts, and thus conflict arises. The protagonist fights the antagonist, taking the plot to climax. Later, the conflict is resolved with the defeat of the antagonist; or, as in tragedies, with the fall of the protagonist.