2015 Reprint of 1958 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition. Not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This classic work was first published in Russian in 1928. Although it represented a breakthrough in both folklore studies and morphology and influenced Claude Lévi-Strauss and Roland Barthes, it was generally unnoticed in the West until it was translated in 1958. His character types are used in media education and can be applied to almost any story, be it in literature, theatre, film, television series, games, etc. Contents: On the history of the problem -- The method and material -- The functions of dramatis personae -- Assimilations: cases of the double morphological meaning of a single function -- Some other elements of the tale -- The distribution of functions among dramatis personae -- Ways in which new characters are introduced into the course of action -- On the attributes of dramatis personae and their significance -- The tale as a whole.