Altering Femininity through Analysis of Female Stereotypes and Aristotle's Four Levels of Characterization Bailee Adams Faculty mentor: Amy Pinney Georgia College & State University
An actor’s ability to transform into a character is a crucial element of theatrical magic. To do so, an actor must rely on clues left by the playwright. When taking on the role of Jeanine in the play The Marriage Counselor, I sought to evaluate the most effective way to portray this character. To do so, I evaluated Jeanine’s and my female stereotype based on the work of the Guerrilla Girls (2003). The character of Jeanine was then created through analysis of her four levels of characterization based on Aristotle’s Poetics (335 B.C.). The evaluation of the levels of characterization were ultimately presented as imperative to the research process, as it informed Jeanine’s physicality, speech inflection, and interaction with other characters. The results indicated the most effective way to portray a female character is to assess the dialogue, evaluate her stereotype, and use that to drive the analysis of Aristotle’s four levels of characterization.
Bailee Adams is from Greensboro, Georgia and is a Theatre major. She plans to pursue an MFA in Acting after graduating from Georgia College & State University.
