Hello everyone and welcome back to #theorythursday. Today I am going to be talking about who the protagonist is in the story. This may seem extremely simple and straightforward, but I have chosen to write about the protagonist because I want my website to be a place where literature and literary theory is accessible to everyone, and there may be readers who aren’t overly familiar with terms such as “protagonist” and “antagonist”, etc.
I use the term “protagonist” a lot, and it is a term that anyone who is talking about literature should become familiar with.
So let’s dive in.
Who is the protagonist?
The term “protagonist” refers to the main character (or main characters) in the text. It is the person (or people) whom the story revolves around.
The word “protagonist” has arguably become associated with the idea of goodness, so the term “protagonist” is often used to describe the “good guy” and the term “antagonist” is often used to describe the villain of the text – I will talk about this on another Theory Thursday.
I do think that although I usually describe the “good guy” as the protagonist out of ease, I think it is slightly more complicated than that as not every protagonist is purely good. Characters can be nuanced and complex, and of course there is the idea of the anti-hero etc, but these are topics for another day.
Why is it important to know who the protagonist is?
I think it is important to know who the protagonist is because they are the main character in a work, and when one is discussing a text, the term “protagonist” is used often so it is important to understand who that term is referring to.
This has been Theory Thursday. I hope you all have a lovely Friday Eve.
Kate xo.
Katelovesliterature.com 
So far, I have 4 WIPS and 5 protagonists:
1. Tale of the Cattail Forest- Sparkle (12), who is stubborn, rebellious, courageous, and adventurous. Like all Fairy Frogs, she is also deeply compassionate and clever, and in the story she takes the compassion to a new level. Naturally gifted in drawing, which she is deeply invested in (that is where part of her stubbornness comes from). Doesn’t always tell the truth and doesn’t listen well to authority (gotten in trouble a lot by Aries, leader of the Fairy Frogs)
2. Lizzy the Lizard- Lizzy, a very curious and adventurous lizard. Yes, there isn’t much to say about her, but she is from a picture book
3. Greatest Discovery (home to two protagonists)- as a matter of fact, it took a while to choose who of six characters (all girl orphans) would be my MC. Eventually I settled on Aurora and Jasmine, fraternal twins born to an artsy and huge Disney-loving family. Their parents died in a car crash on a snowy day (sadly, the girls were part of it). The story starts when the girls are 9.
Jasmine is the more mature and protective twin, who deals with the death better- became more protective of Aurora after their parents died, and loves making and designing outfits for dolls. She actually has a dream of being a costume designer on Broadway.
Aurora, on the other hand, is more innocent, stubborn and curious and struggles more with the loss. Would rather play with dolls and princesses than doing the crafts her parents taught her. Something that helps her deal with the loss is Mali, the final doll her mother and Jasmine made her (it resembles the princess she is named after and named after Maleficent).
4. My expansive world idea (true no story idea yet, but know the name of the MC)- Ayra. I have this idea that she is this warrior-type character. Still trying to figure her out. I know she lives on the place where the Fairy Frogs originated (not all of their species are naturally gifted in the arts, but all of them have translucent wings and have amazing compassion)
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I really enjoyed reading this. Thank you so much for sharing.
Kate xo.
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Glad you enjoyed meeting my protagonists
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