tHeOrIsTs: VlAdImIr PrOpP

Vladimir Propp was a Russian structuralist/theorist who analysed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest elements.

Propp's theory discovered that there are ONLY 8 broad character types in the one hundred tales he analysed:

The villain (struggles against the hero)
The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)
The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)
The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)
Her father
The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)
The hero or victim/ seeker hero (reacts to the donor, weds the princess)
False hero/ anti-hero (takes credit for the hero’s actions/ tries to marry the princess)

PROPPS THEORY AND PRISON BREAK

Propp's theory can be applied to Prison Break in the ways the characters appear on screen:


The villain- The 'Company'/corrupt American govt.
The donor- Sucre
The (magical) helper- Sucre/T-bag/Lincoln/Charles/C-note/Tweener/Abuzzi
The princess- Sara Tancredi (doctor)
The hero - Michael Scofield