Propps Narrative Theory - 'Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'

Propp’s Theory of Narrative – ‘Lord of the Rings’

Propp’s theory of narrative in film trailers says that there are seven main ‘stock’ characters, which either disrupt or maintain the idea of equilibrium, or peace. These stock characters can have some cross over – characters can have more than one function.

One of the most well known stock characters is the hero of the story. This character is usually male and is the main protagonist of the text. This character normally has the main job of restoring equilibrium to the text, in which the villain has upset. In ‘Lord of the Rings’ the main hero Frodo who is charged with destroying the ring, which will return equilibrium to the text, which he must embark on a quest to do so. Propp differentiates between two types of hero – the victim hero, who is at the centre of the villain’s intentions and the seeker hero, who is trying to protect innocents from the villain’s wrath. The villain is the person who purposefully disrupts the equilibrium of the text. In terms of Lord of the Rings’ the main antagonist would be Sauron.

There are other ‘stock’ characters which are not as well known or thought of which appear in narrative texts. For example, the donor, who gives something – either an object to aid the hero in some way or the quest its self. This is an example of when there can be cross over between two stock characters – the dispatcher is a character which gives the hero the quest, which the donor may also do. In terms of ‘Lord of the Rings’, Bilbo Baggins would be the donor, as he gives Frodo a sword which will tell him when Orcs are near. Elrond would be the dispatcher as he gives Frodo the quest to destroy the ring.

The ‘stock’ character of the ‘helper’ is the character which helps the hero in their quest to restore equilibrium. In ‘The Lord of the Rings’ the main helper is Samwise, who constantly travels with Frodo in his quest to destroy the ring. However, there are other helpers such as Legolas and Aragon, who also help in the quest. This suggests that there may not be only one character assigned to each ‘stock’ character.

In the ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ there is not a ‘princess’ stock character. The princess is the person who needs to be saved from the villain – they are the person most threatened. There is usually a romantic sub-plot between the hero and the princess, which in the conclusion of the text, there is a wedding between the two.

There is one final ‘stock’ character – the ‘false hero’. This is the character that appears to be on the hero’s side up until the ending of the text, in which it is revealed to be an evil character. In ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ there is not exactly a false hero. The character of Boromir displays some false hero traits, such as the fact that he tries to take the ring from Frodo. However, he still turns out to be on the side of good, as he dies defending Frodo from an army of Orcs. This suggests that there are some holes in Propp’s narrative theory in modern day film.