Enemies in Literature
In literature, stories are often developed by presenting a primary character, the protagonist, as overcoming obstacles presented by an antagonist who is depicted as a personal enemy of the protagonist. Serial fictional narratives of heroes often present the hero contending against an archenemy whose capabilities match or exceed those of the hero, thereby establishing tension as to whether the hero will be able to defeat this enemy. The enemy may be displayed as an evil character who plans to harm innocents, so that the reader will side with the protagonist in the need to battle the enemy.
Read more about this topic: Foe
Famous quotes containing the words enemies and/or literature:
“I will not adopt that ungenerous and impolitic custom so common with novel writers, of degrading by their contemptuous censure the very performances, to the number of which they are themselves adding—joining with their greatest enemies in bestowing the harshest epithets on such works, and scarcely ever permitting them to be read by their own heroine, who, if she accidentally take up a novel, is sure to turn over its insipid leaves with disgust.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)
“Since people no longer attend church, theater remains as the only public service, and literature as the only private devotion.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)