The former is a ‘flat character, and the Prince is a round character who changes and develops considerably in the course of the play. Shakespeare’s Henry IV (Pts I and II) provides a suitable contrast in the shape of Hotspur and Prince Hal. If you did not know already, a flat character is a character that throughout the story they only show one trait or side and a round character is characters that. Micawber in Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield (1849–50) as a flat character and Becky Sharp in William Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (1847–48) as a round one.

On the other hand, a ‘round’ character is a complex character with many different characteristics and develops throughout the play or story and thus alters and can surprise the readers.įorster cites Mrs.

A ‘flat’ character is uncomplicated, and remains the same in the course of a story or play, and is characterized by only one or two traits. Forster in Aspects of the Novel (1927) to describe two basically different types of character- and characterization. The terms “flat and round characters” are first used by E.

What is flat and round character