Literature allows us to travel without having to actually leave our home, we’re able to relate to a novel, play or poem from the edge of our bed, or the palm of hands. Whether the story be the base of a society, usually mirroring the society in which the author lived, in order to make this relatable to the reader, the author will add in trends that were currently happening in society, in addition, the author will focus on adding identity. Identity in literature that is the core of the story, because of the characters. Identity, as defined by the Cambridge English dictionary, is “who a person is, or the qualities of a person or group that make them different from others”.
Characters are specially developed to be the personalities of represented identity, such as religion, power, gender. Literature, whether it is fiction or non-fiction, is filled of important components for the best experience for the reader, Identity construction in literature is one of strongest foundations in the story, because a writer must always create different identities in order to achieve the goal of creating interesting characters. We see this form of identity construction with writers like William Shakespeare in his play “Hamlet” and Seamus Heany’s “Beowulf” because though their main character’s identities both rely on self-conception and in respects to how the female characters are represented within the heavily patriarchal society of the Elizabethans and Victorians.
