In the TV series ‘The Great’, Peter the third or also known as the Emperor of Russia is left to rule Russia following under the shadow after the death of his father, Peter the Great. And he is to find a wife from aristocratic blood to be his companion alongside him. The writer of this series, Tony McNamara presents the character, Peter, as being drunk on authority with actions such as having his royal staff constantly following behind him, or forcing his staff to do whatever he demands them to and requesting laughter at the jokes that he makes. Likewise, he is a constantly, very demanding individual who is viewed in a childish manner but still manages to get what he wants and desires. Nonetheless, McNamara also writes Peter as a delicate central figure whose actions are constantly being compared to his father and is in need to learn and understand the means of love and affection towards others. However, even though the character Peter wants to learn and love there is an obstacle in this matter. And the reason is that he is unsure of who to trust as everyone mostly pretends to follow and look up to him because of his current royal status. To compare to the definition from McKee of what a character is, he stated that a character is decided on how they express and is revealed through the choices and actions that they make. He quoted that the true character is revealed in the choice of what a human being or a character under pressure makes – the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation.
For instance, in the third episode of the season, when he was in a meeting with his military men to structure the position of how to overthrow Sweden, he felt under pressure as he mentions how his father had succeeded in battling with Sweden and that he failed in looking up to his father’s expectations. Moreover, losing his country due to the increasing number of soldiers that Russia has lost due to his lack of skills in positioning his men. On the other hand, McKee sums the definition of characterisation as a sum or set of ideas of the observable qualities of a human being or character where the tension between the action and the expectation of the character upbringings is being observed. Throughout the series, McNamara also writes Peter characterising as a rude, relentless, act without thought and narcissistic, obnoxious human being. Namely, as his style of speech in the series is overflowing with various explicit words and only focusing on himself with phrases such as ‘I must play. I’m a brilliant violinist.’ or ‘So your wife will not be happy, but I will and that’s all that matters.’ Clearly, this phrase analyses that Peter is the kind of character that would only put himself first rather than thinking of what others might feel or think. In conclusion, the analysis of the concepts of character vs. characterisation helps us as the viewers to identify and create expectations of or their personality traits and hence to what kinds of obstacles the character would face.
Word Count: 524 words
Reference List
Ellwood, G 2020, ‘Huzzah! Nicholas Hoult On Playing A Fratboy Peter III In ‘The Great’ [Interview]’, The Playlist, viewed 06 August 2020, <https://theplaylist.net/nicholas-hoult-great-interview-20200514/>.
McKee, R 1997, Story: Substance, Structure, ReganBooks, New York.
Images
Harper’s Bazaar 2020, How Did Catherine the Great’s Husband Really Die?, n.d. photograph, viewed 6 August 2020, <https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/thegreatpeter-1589695231.png?crop=0.5482815057283142xw:1xh;center,top&resize=480:*>.
Audiovisual
EvenAngelsFall, Peter the Great Idea | Larks and Weird Sex [The Great Humor], June 21, viewed 06 August 2020, <https://youtu.be/CpYEmch6hXg>.
Hulu 2020, The Great – Trailer (Official) • A Hulu Original, 23 April, viewed 06 August 2020, <https://youtu.be/hJGedvRfHYg>.
Hulu 2020, The Great – Teaser (Official) • A Hulu Original, 23 March, viewed 06 August 2020, <https://youtu.be/CWaJ6pzrV5U>.
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