Description
Book SynopsisA spirited, engaging investigation into the concept of character, an enduring human obsession in literature, psychology, politics, and everyday life.
What is character?
Since at least Aristotle's time, philosophers, theologians, moralists, artists, and scientists have pondered the enigma of human character. In its oldest usage, character derives from a word for engraving or stamping, yet over time, it has come to mean a moral idea, a type, a literary persona, and a physical or physiological manifestation observable in works of art and scientific experiments. It is an essential term in drama and the focus of self-help books.
In Character: The History of a Cultural Obsession, Marjorie Garber points out that character seems more relevant than ever today, omnipresent in discussions of politics, ethics, gender, morality, and the psyche. References to character flaws, character issues, and character assassination and allegations of bad and good characte
