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Propps Spheres of Action 1a6930e

The document outlines Vladimir Propp's seven spheres of action that commonly appear in narratives. These spheres are: the hero, the villain, the donor, the helper, the princess, the dispatcher, and the false hero. Examples are given for each sphere from popular films and books like Shrek, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Matrix trilogy. The spheres of action provide a framework for analyzing character roles and how characters work together or against each other to advance the plot.

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61 views1 page

Propps Spheres of Action 1a6930e

The document outlines Vladimir Propp's seven spheres of action that commonly appear in narratives. These spheres are: the hero, the villain, the donor, the helper, the princess, the dispatcher, and the false hero. Examples are given for each sphere from popular films and books like Shrek, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Matrix trilogy. The spheres of action provide a framework for analyzing character roles and how characters work together or against each other to advance the plot.

Uploaded by

marindemanderijn
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Propp’s Sphere’s of Action Famous Examples

The seven spheres of action are:

The hero: usually male, is the agent who restores Shrek (Shrek)
the narrative equilibrium often by Frodo Baggins (LOTR Trilogy)
embarking upon a quest (or search), The Avengers (Avengers
saves the princess and wins her hand. Assemble)
Propp distinguishes between the victim Neo (The Matrix)
hero, who is the centre of the villain's
attentions, and the seeker hero who aids
others who are the villains victims. The
hero is invariably the texts protagonist or
central character.

The villain: who creates the narrative disruption. Loki (Avengers Assemble)
Lord Farquaard (Shrek)

Galadriel (LOTR The


The donor: gives the hero something, it may be an
Fellowship of the Ring)
object, information or advice, which
helps in resolution of the narrative.
Bilbo Baggins (LOTR Trilogy)
The helper: aids the hero in the task of restoring
equilibrium.
Fiona (Shrek)
The princess: (the victim) is usually the character most
The Human Race (The Matrix
threatened by the villain and has to be
Trilogy)
saved, at the climax, by the hero. The
father's (who in fairy tales was often the
king) role is usually to give the princess
away to the hero at the narrative's
conclusion. He may also despatch the
hero.
Morpheus (The Matrix)
The dispatcher: sends the hero on her or his task (who
Gandalf (LOTR Trilogy)
can also be the princess father).
Cypher (The Matrix)
The false hero: appears to be good but is revealed, at
the narrative's end, to have been bad.

It is important to note that characters can fulfil more than one


sphere of action and spheres of action can be made up of
more than one character; so a princess may also be a helper
and a text may have several villains.

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