My Viable Paradise buddy Catherine Schaff-Stump has a wonderful group of articles about the female members of the Avengers (Black Widow, Wasp, Moondragon, Hell-cat, Ms. Marvel, Scarlet Witch). I post the links because they are interesting discussions on existing characters, what makes them tick, and how female characters are treated by male writers. My post is inspired by the Scarlet Witch post, in which Catherine posits that the Scarlet Witch is the worst female Avenger because of her lack of agency.
What is agency? It’s the ability of a character to take ownership and responsibility over their actions, their problems, and the situation they find themselves in. Characters without agency tend to react rather than act. These are the victims, some willing, some not willing, who just let things happen. Some of them whine, some of them hide, but they have one thing in common. They don’t make decisions. Things happen to them, not because of them.
There are many reasons to have characters without agency in your stories. But I can think of no reason why a protagonist should be in your story without agency. Whether your story is character-driven or plot-driven, whether the plot contains character obstacles or external obstacles, a protagonist should always have agency. In modern literature, the protagonist’s ability to resolve the situation (even with a pyrrhic victory) is key to telling your story.
So what do you think about character agency? Do your characters have it? If not, why not? How do you think agency or the lack of agency affects the way your plot works?
