1. Vladimir Propp’s theory
Vladimir’s theory is that every
story has a certain amount of
characters that do a specific role.
These roles are:
The hero... Saves the princess.
The villain... Disrupts the story
sometimes manipulative/evil.
The donor... Gives information.
The dispatcher... Sends the hero off
to the journey.
The false hero... Pretends to save
the princess.
The helper... Helps the hero on the
journey.
The princess... Usually needs
saving.
In total there are 7 characters.
Tzvetan todorov’s theory
An equilibrium - how it starts/
normal life.
Disruption- something happens.
Recognition of disruption-
characters recognise something
has happened.
Attempt to repair disruption- try
to fix the situation.
New equilibrium- new ‘normal
life’
Vladimir studied fairytales to
come up with this theory but it
applies to any film.
Narrative Theory
