Overview Appreciation

both women and men will tend to empathize with the main character in this story

Although there is much common ground in a story that is appreciated equally by women and men, some dramatic messages speak to one group more profoundly than the other. One particular area of difference is the relationship of female and male audience members to the Main Character. In some stories an audience member will feel Empathy with the Main Character, as if he/she were standing in the Main Character's shoes. In other stories, an audience member will feel Sympathy, a less intense emotional attachment, for the Main Character as if the Main Character is a close acquaintance. The dynamics that control this for women and men are quite different. "Both" indicates that, as a result of this storyform's dynamics, both male and female audience members will tend to empathize with the Main Character. Neither will sympathize.