“Plot’”, says Butcher” “does not overpower character... It is the very medium through which character is discerned, the touch-stone by which its powers are tested”. In Milton, the plot is so organized as to give maximum emphasis to character. Such being the vital part that characters do have in poetic works ; it is no wonder that the same importance is keenly felt in the art of fiction also. According to Nancy Hale,” “character, characters that have an universal appeal are in fact the life of a novel or a short story’. The fact that out of the four types of Novels, Novels of characters being classified as one among them, asserts the same stand. “It is the variety of characters that make an epic lustrous, lively and impressive” says Dr. Gnanamurthy" in his article on ‘Literary theories – Epic’. While portraying the characters the poet makes them citizens of the world, crossing the narrow man-made boundaries of caste, creed and nation as well ; and this perpaps justifies the meaning of his name “Poet’. Apart from the two main subdivisions such as Men characters and women characters, English critics talk of three other types, as central character, major characters and minor charac լ CrՏ. Aristotle's stipulation for the characters in a tragedy to be good, but not persect, true to type, consistent and true to t hennsclves, ni ay also seem to hold good for all characters in general. But he says that a tragic character should not be either completely good or completely bad. Tholk a piyar lays down pride and strength as the necessary traits of the character of a hero. Commentator Ilham puura nar interprets pride as staying away from reproach and sin ; and strength as wisdom. Though there seems to be some similarity between the ideas of these two grammarians with reference to the traits of 1 12
