In literature, the persona is a voice or personified character that describes the thoughts and feelings of the author or narrator other than the author’s own personality, feelings, or opinions. It is a basic element in communicating the theme and engaging the readers through specific characters and narrators.
What is Persona?
The word persona has been originated from the Latin word “mask”, which refers to a fictional identity or voice that an author creates to tell a story. In literary terms, the voice or the narrator represents a viewpoint that is different from that of the author.
Persona allows authors to view different perspectives, experiment with storytelling, and to create genuine voices that echo the character’s experiences, opinions, and cultural background.
Types of Persona
There are different types of persona in literature. Each is used for particular storytelling reasons. Here are the following essential types:
1- Narrative Persona
The voice of the narrator can be in first person, third person, omniscient or limited. For Example: in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the author uses a young girl’s narrative view point to recollect her memories, which adds innocence and curiosity to the story.
2- Dramatic Persona
Created characters inhabit plays or dramatic works which serve to express a particular point of view or quality. For Example: The brooding and introspective prince, Hamlet, is a dramatic persona through which themes of revenge, morality and existentialism are explored.
3- Unreliable Persona
The act of a narrator whose perspective is weak, often because it is compromised by lack of credibility or mental instability. For Example: American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman, whose violence and warped viewpoint create the heart of the book.
4- Observer Persona
It is a passive observer character, which provides commentary to other characters or events without directly affecting them. For Example: In “The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway, who observes Gatsby’s life and contemplates the themes of wealth, class and the American Dream.
5- Alter Ego Persona
One of the varieties of a secondary self or doppelganger, usually representing a different side of the author or main character’s personality. For Example: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde represent two opposing personas within the same character, which symbolizes the struggle between good and evil.
Examples of Persona in Literature
Example#1
“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.”
One clear example of persona is Holden Caulfield’s voice. Salinger exemplifies an angry, cynical view of the world through Holden. Holden’s tone, language, and his hatred of ‘phony’ people set him apart from the usual sort of protagonist, and acts as a window into teenage disillusionment.
In capturing the angst, confusion, and complexity of adolescence, this persona creates a deeply relatable although flawed character whose voice resonates with readers.
Example#2
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. ‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’”
The author uses a persona to view the excess and moral decay of the Jazz Age through Nick Carraway. Nick is the reflection of both inside and outside of Gatsby’s world, being drawn into it but also sufficiently detached to critique it.
Through a morally reflective voice, Fitzgerald is able to explore themes of class, wealth, and the American Dream through this narrative persona, lending depth and a sense of moral questioning to the story.
Example#3
“Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov
“You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what the seraphs, the misinformed, simple, noble-winged seraphs, envied. Look at this tangle of thorns.”
An example of an unreliable persona is Humbert Humbert. Instead, Nabokov presents a character who is morally repugnant (Humbert) but who is given a sophisticated, poetic and manipulative voice that attempts to charm and persuade the reader that Humbert’s actions are justified and worthy of sympathy.
By adding this unreliable persona to the story, the readers are left doubting the veracity of what Humbert is saying and interpreting, creating tension and ambiguity in the moral narrative.
See also: Protagonist in Literature
Example#4
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.”
The narration of Scout Finch is a persona that combines the innocence of a child with an adult’s reflective wisdom. In the novel, the author uses the character of Scout to present the events.
He employs a naive tone to give an honest and perceptive outlook, which allows the readers to experience the themes of racism, prejudice, and moral growth.
This persona draws people in and helps them connect with the story’s social issues more easily by seeing them through a child’s perspective.
Example#5
“The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath
“I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.”
In the novel, the author reflects her own experience of dealing with mental illness and high expectations of society in the persona of Esther Greenwood.
Esther’s introspective, sometimes bleak voice tells the story of her feeling of alienation and depression, which provides the readers with a raw, immersive experience of her psychological turmoil.
The deeply personal persona of this character allows readers to feel what Esther suffers and learn a bit about her identity struggles, feelings of freedom, and mental health.
Example#6
“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning
“She had A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. Sir, ’twas all one! My favor at her breast, The dropping of the daylight in the West, The bough of cherries some officious fool Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule She rode with round the terrace—all and each Would draw from her alike the approving speech, Or blush, at least.”
The passage has been presented from the persona of the Duke, who is recollecting the memories of his deceased wife to a representative of his next bride’s family.
The Duke’s words show the readers his possessive and controlling nature. He doesn’t concur with his late wife’s appreciation of such simple felicity and resents her for not having quite an elected adoration for him.
By putting the Duke’s thoughts into this persona, the readers can also observe the Duke’s flaws of jealousy, arrogance and control without having to say so directly.
This is a effective use of persona because the Duke reveals his darker nature through his own speech. Browning’s language for the Duke has been carefully crafted to demonstrate how he views people as possessions; this breeds complexity in the Duke’s characterization, and the poem becomes a complex study in pride and power.
See also: Prose Examples in Literature
Importance of Persona
A well composed persona enhances a character’s authenticity, and therefore, it will make a character win respects and feel like a relatable to the readers. This makes it possible for authors to develop voices that make readers connect with.
Authors are able to explore more complex themes from unique perspectives with Persona. By adopting different personas, authors are able to address societal, moral and psychological issues without immediately imposing their persona’s views upon the story.
Persona creates a suspense and engagement to the story. For example, an unreliable narrator such as Humbert Humbert generates a sense of mystery for the reader, who must distinguish realism from a narrator’s skewed perspective.
Even when a persona is distinct from the author, it often subtly reflects the author’s critiques or perspectives on society, morality, or human nature.
Literary Terms Related to Persona
1- Voice
Voice is the narrator’s or author’s unique style or tone. Persona means the point of view of the character, while voice is all the unique language (language, tone, rhythm) that defines the narration.
2- Point of View
Point of view is the perspective in which a story is told, e.g. first person or third person. Point of view affects persona because different points of view provide varying degrees of intimacy and subjectivity, which, in turn, affect how readers engage with the persona.
See also: Literary Devices That Start With P
