Cinema and Its Discontents: The Dialectical Nature of Character

The ultimate aim of drama is to expose the soul of Character. Dramatists achieve this objective by employing a specific type of conflict known as dialectic, a concept woven throughout Western thinking and—from Homer to 21st century cinema—the basis of all dramatic characters. This study details the history of dialectical thought from Plato to Jung before turning its focus to the development of character in a century of filmmaking. From Chaplin’s Tramp to Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle, it examines more than two dozen cinematic characters governed by dialectic—torn between life and death, opposing desires, moralities and wills, their sense of self threatened by others.