The Characters
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- | ''The Characters'' is a book by Greek philosopher [[Theophrastus]] which contains thirty brief, [[vigorous]] and [[trenchant]] outlines of [[moral type]]s, which form a most valuable picture of the life of his time, and in fact of [[human nature]] in general. Writing the "[[character sketch]]" as a scholastic exercise also originated in Theophrastus's typology. | + | '''''The Characters''''' is a book by Greek philosopher [[Theophrastus]] which contains thirty brief, [[vigorous]] and [[trenchant]] outlines of [[moral type]]s, which form a most valuable picture of the life of his time, and in fact of [[human nature]] in general. Writing the "[[character sketch]]" as a scholastic exercise also originated in Theophrastus's typology. |
They are the first recorded attempt at systematic [[stock character|character writing]]. The book has been regarded by some as an independent work; others incline to the view that the sketches were written from time to time by Theophrastus, and collected and edited after his death; others, again, regard the ''Characters'' as part of a larger systematic work, but the style of the book is against this. Theophrastus has found many imitators in this kind of writing, notably [[Joseph Hall|Hall]] (1608), [[Sir Thomas Overbury]] (1614–16), [[John Earle|Bishop Earle]] (1628) and [[Jean de La Bruyère]] (1688), who also translated the ''Characters''. [[George Eliot]] also took inspiration from Theophrastus' Characters, most notably in her book of caricatures, [[Impressions of Theophrastus Such]]. | They are the first recorded attempt at systematic [[stock character|character writing]]. The book has been regarded by some as an independent work; others incline to the view that the sketches were written from time to time by Theophrastus, and collected and edited after his death; others, again, regard the ''Characters'' as part of a larger systematic work, but the style of the book is against this. Theophrastus has found many imitators in this kind of writing, notably [[Joseph Hall|Hall]] (1608), [[Sir Thomas Overbury]] (1614–16), [[John Earle|Bishop Earle]] (1628) and [[Jean de La Bruyère]] (1688), who also translated the ''Characters''. [[George Eliot]] also took inspiration from Theophrastus' Characters, most notably in her book of caricatures, [[Impressions of Theophrastus Such]]. | ||
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The Characters is a book by Greek philosopher Theophrastus which contains thirty brief, vigorous and trenchant outlines of moral types, which form a most valuable picture of the life of his time, and in fact of human nature in general. Writing the "character sketch" as a scholastic exercise also originated in Theophrastus's typology.
They are the first recorded attempt at systematic character writing. The book has been regarded by some as an independent work; others incline to the view that the sketches were written from time to time by Theophrastus, and collected and edited after his death; others, again, regard the Characters as part of a larger systematic work, but the style of the book is against this. Theophrastus has found many imitators in this kind of writing, notably Hall (1608), Sir Thomas Overbury (1614–16), Bishop Earle (1628) and Jean de La Bruyère (1688), who also translated the Characters. George Eliot also took inspiration from Theophrastus' Characters, most notably in her book of caricatures, Impressions of Theophrastus Such.