Vladimir Propp was a Russian theorist who analysed folk stories, for their characters in particular, he found that although these stories may of differed they had underlying similar characters, which included:
.An antagonist,
.A protagonist or as he called 'the hero'
.The donor (whom provides a key object in the story)
.A helper for the hero
.'A princess' which may not even be a maiden, for example it may be any prize that the hero wishes to obtain and/or the source of the antagonists evil deeds.
.A fake hero
.A dispatcher
.The father/person whom rewards the hero for his efforts.
Although not all can specifically can apply to modern stories there are a lot of similar aspects of Propp's theory that relate to modern stories, soap drama included. An example can be seen in the recent Eastenders Christmas special 2011 where Masood (the protagonist) and his helper (Jane) try to rescue Masood's ex-wife Zainab (the princess) from the clutches of her abusive and murderous husband 'Yusef Khan' (the antagonist). Similarities do not end there as Masood also has to get his son from a different woman. The child was used over Zainab so she did what she was told, so this other woman could be seen as 'the donor' whom provides the essential object which is her son. Yusef prior to this acted as 'a false hero'. It seems that a lot of Propp's theory can be applied to modern day texts as shown here and I will take this on board when constructing my own soap trailer. Although my soap trailer will feature a range of stories not just one, meaning this theory wont fully apply I will apply it to the trailer if its both possible and necessary.
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