Unseen character

An unseen character^[1] or (in radio) silent character is a fictional character referred to but not directly observed by the audience,^[2] but who advances the action of the plot in a significant way, and whose absence enhances their effect on the plot.^[3]

History

Unseen characters have been used since the beginning of theatre with the ancient Greek tragedians, such as Laius in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Jason's bride in Euripides' Medea, and continued into Elizabethan theatre with examples such as Rosaline in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. However, it was the early twentieth-century European playwrights Strindberg, Ibsen and Chekhov who fully developed the dramatic potential of the unseen character. Eugene O'Neill was influenced by his European contemporaries and established the absent character as an aspect of character, narrative, and stagecraft in American theatre.^[3]

Purpose and characteristics

Unseen characters are causal figures included in dramatic works to motivate the onstage characters to a certain course of action and advance the plot, but their presence is unnecessary. Indeed, their absence makes them appear more powerful because they are only known by inference.^[3] The use of an unseen character "take[s] advantage of one of the simplest but most powerful theatrical devices: the manner in which verbal references can make an offstage character extraordinarily real [...] to an audience," exploiting the audience's tendency to create visual images of imaginary characters in their mind.^[4]

In a study of 18th-century French comedy, F. C. Green suggests that an "invisible character" can be defined as one who, though not seen, "influences the action of the play".^[1] This definition, according to Green, would rule out a character like Laurent (Lawrence), Tartuffe's unseen valet, whose sole function is merely to give the playwright an opportunity to introduce Tartuffe.^[1][5]

Unseen characters can develop organically even when their creators initially did not expect to keep them as unseen, especially in episodic works like television series. For instance, the producers of Cheers and Frasier initially did not want to make the character Niles Crane's wife Maris an unseen character because they did not want to draw parallels to Vera, Norm Peterson's wife on Cheers. They originally intended that Maris would appear after several episodes, but were enjoying writing excuses for her absence so eventually it was decided she would remain unseen, and after the increasingly eccentric characteristics ascribed to her, no real actress could portray her.^[6]

Examples

Theatre

Unseen characters occur elsewhere in drama, including the plays of Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, and Edward Albee.^[7][8] Author Marie A. Wellington notes that in the 18th-century, Voltaire included unseen characters in a few of his plays, including Le Duc d’Alençon and L’Orphelin de la Chine.^[9]

• Rosaline in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is never seen, but is only described.^[10][11]
• In Alain-René Lesage's 1707 play Crispin an unseen character called Damis with his forced secret marriage is essential to the whole plot.^[1]
• In Clare Boothe Luce's play The Women (1936), and the 1939 film based on the play, male characters (husbands, lovers, etc.) are referred to but do not appear, even in photographs, and the entire cast (from stars to extras) is all female.^[12][13]
• Godot in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is never seen. The play's two main characters spend the entire play waiting for Godot to arrive.^[14]
• In Anton Chekhov's play Three Sisters, Protopopov, who is cuckolding his employee Andrei and having a torrid and far from secret affair with Natasha, is unseen but plays a central role. Some sources suggest Protopopov, not Andrei, is the real father of Sofia, Natasha's daughter.^[15][16]

UK television and radio

• Minder: Arthur Daley's wife, referred to only as "'Er Indoors", is never seen or heard, but often quoted.^[17]
• In the long-running British radio soap opera The Archers, a number of permanent inhabitants of the village in which the story is set are frequently referred to but are never heard in their own voices. Fans of the programme often refer to these characters as "the silents".^[18]

US television

• On The Odd Couple (1970-1975 series), one of Oscar Madison's best-known and least refined girlfriends, "Crazy Rhoda Zimmerman", is often mentioned but never seen. (On one episode, however, her aunt shows up to tell Oscar that Rhoda will not be able to keep their date that night.)^[19]
• On the mystery drama Columbo, Inspector Columbo often described his wife in detail but she is never seen, heard, or otherwise portrayed in the series.^[20] A short-lived, unsuccessful spinoff series Mrs. Columbo was created in 1979 after Columbo had ended its run, but Inspector Columbo never appeared. Mrs. Columbo, as played by Kate Mulgrew, was named Kate (although Inspector Columbo's wife in Columbo was never given a forename). The series gradually severed any possible ties with the original detective series. Both the series and the eponymous character herself were renamed in an attempt to change direction, but this did not help poor ratings and the series was ultimately canceled in March 1980 after only thirteen episodes had aired.^[21][22]
• On The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Phyllis Lindstrom's husband, Dr. Lars Lindstrom, is oft-referenced but never seen.^[23]
• On Seinfeld, Bob Sacamano, Lomez and "Cousin Jeffrey" are often mentioned but never seen. The first two are friends of Cosmo Kramer, and the last is the cousin of Jerry Seinfeld. Jeffrey works for the New York City Parks Department, as Jerry is told ad nauseam by his Uncle Leo.^[24]
• On The Andy Griffith Show, Juanita Beasley, for whom Barney Fife occasionally expresses affection, is unseen but often referenced and telephoned by the love-struck Fife.^[25]
• Vera Peterson from Cheers and Maris Crane from its spinoff Frasier are two of the most widely recognized unseen characters of American television,^{[26][27][28][29][30][31]} though Vera's body, with face obscured by a pie is seen in one episode, and her voice is heard in other episodes.

References