Characterisation: GCSE English Definition

What is a characterisation?

In GCSE English Literature and GCSE English Language, characterisation is the way a writer creates and develops their characters across a text.

Why do writers use characterisation?

Characterisation helps writers to describe the attributes and features of their characters, reveal their motivations and chart any changes they experience.

Writers might do this explicitly, for example by stating their physical attributes (“she stood fully six feet tall”). This is called direct characterisation. Alternatively, they might hint at a character’s qualities, or describe them through their actions or speech (“with a frown on her face, she trudged slowly to work”). This is called indirect characterisation and allows a writer to show, and not tell, a reader what their character is like.

Examples of characterisation

In Act 1, Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s speech — with its references to violence, the supernatural and Hell — gives the audience an immediate impression of her as a ruthless and ambitious character willing to stop at nothing to gain power.

In J.B. Priestley’s play An Inspector Calls, the character of Sheila undergoes tremendous character development. Beginning as a naïve and selfish character, Sheila’s final lines of dialogue (where she disagrees with her parents) show she has become a more confident young woman with the ability to change.

Revision resources to ace your exams

Learn how to analyse a writer’s use of characterisation, and how to create and develop your own characters in English Language writing questions, by using our detailed GCSE revision notes.

GCSE English Literature Revision Notes 

GCSE English Language Revision Notes

For more literary techniques, check out our list of 127 top literary devices, complete with student-friendly definitions.