Fifth Business essays

Fifth Business essays Throughout Fifth Business there was much evidence provided that there were relations between the class of characters from an old style opera and the characters seen in Fifth Business. Clearly there was an association between Dunstable Ramsays character and that of an old style operas, which was of course the role of Fifth business. In my opinion the five main characters each shared different roles that were originally used in old style operas. This is why I believe that The characters in Fifth Business are related directly to that of an old style opera. Originally, there were five main roles in an old style opera. These roles were the Hero, the Heroine, the Villain, the Confidante and the Fifth business. There were also five main characters in Fifth Business, each representing one of the five main characters in which were used in operas. There were many incidents in the book that designated each character to one of the five roles. Percy Boyd Staunton was characterized as the villain through his smoothly procured riches, his controlling love life and the fact that he was the one who had initially thrown the snowball that resulted in Pauls pre-mature birth and Mrs. Dempsters poor mental state. Paul Dempster represented the Hero in the novel. Paul overcame the shame that was brought upon by his mother and led a successful and erotic life. He could have been seen as the centre point of the novel because he was always turning up and bringing excitement and life into the novel. In an old style opera there were guidelines and roles in which the characters would follow. There was the heroine who was often a fool, a villain, who was often the rival to the hero. There was a hero, who the heroine often loves; a confidante who was odd but trustworthy who often rivalled the heroin (usually played by a sorceress). Finally, there was the fifth business who was usua ...