SILENCIO Y PARALENGUAJE.

This section will shed light on the four main characters in Seinfeld: Jerry, Elaine, Kramer, and George. The discussion will include their personality, interests, behaviour and relationships. It is worth mentioning that discussing different aspects of the characters in Seinfeld will make it easier to understand some of the analysed examples in chapter 5, providing that humour in these examples is connected to some qualities of the characters (e.g., the stinginess of George and Kramer’s ignorance).

Jerry Seinfeld (played by Jerome Allen) is a standup comedian who lives by himself in

his apartment and who is always attracted to beautiful women. His relationships with women usually end in very unusual and embarrassing ways because of his strong tendency towards noticing minor defect of their personalities or behavior. Jerry had a failed relationship with Elaine but they managed to stay friends after they broke up. He is an over sensitive person who rarely helps his friends and sometimes makes fun of their actions and take great pleasure when seeing them fail. He has an obsession with cleanliness, superman and cereal. Among the main characters, he is the only one to appear in all episodes (Faulstich 2008).

George Louis Costanza (played by Jason Alexander) is the funniest and most stupid

character of the four main characters. He is described by Elaine as a “short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man” who still lives with his parents, Estelle and Frank. He is Jerry’s best and close friend to the extent that they are often perceived mistakenly as a gay couple, especially when they walk in the street or when they meet new people. George gets into a relationship with Susan Ross, but she passes away after licking a poisonous envelope. In addition to being unable to keep a job for a long period of time, George’s relationships with women are usually unsuccessful because of his

idiocy, stinginess and pickiness. However, he is believed to be an intelligent and expert liar and, in many instances, he manages to get away with his bad and stupid actions. Furthermore, his lying ability is acknowledged by himself when he says “Jerry, just remember, it’s not a lie if you believe it”. Jerry also proclaimed that “George could beat a lie detector test” (Jerry Seinfeld Club). George has an unhealthy obsession with bathrooms and bathroom related materials. For example, in one episode, he is fascinated by the history of toilet paper, and in another episode, he quits his job because he is not allowed to use his boss’s bathroom (ibid).

Elaine Marie Benes (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is the only female actor among the

four main characters and, like Jerry, she is attracted to the opposite sex, especially handsome men. As previously mentioned, she was in a relationship with Jerry and later gets into an even longer relationship with David Puddy. She is always in conflict with boyfriends. For example, in the episode “The Boyfriend”, Elaine breaks up with Keith Hernandez (the baseball player) because he smokes, and she hates smokers. Despite being a crazy and unexpected character, she keeps her job as a writer for Mr. Peterman. Unlike Jerry, Elaine is sometimes caring and helpful when someone is in trouble, although in some cases she can be surprisingly ruthless (Classic-tv.com). Moreover, she is known for her poor dancing skills and is often mocked by George who considers her dancing to be “a full-bodied dry heave set to music”. Evidence of Elaine’s poor dancing can be seen in the episode “The Little Kicks” in which she dances at the party held by the J. Peterman Company and in the episode “The Slicer”. In comparison with the three other main characters, Elaine’s first appearance in the show was in the second episode “The Stakeout”, and she made fewer appearances because she did not appear in three episodes: “The Seinfeld Chronicles”, “The Trip1” and “The Trip2” (Jerry Seinfeld Club).

Despite being caring, friendly and extremely honest, Cosmo Kramer (played by Michael Anthony Richards) is the most conflicted, and ignorant character in the show. He lives in an apartment across the hall from Jerry’s from which strange noises and unusual smells come. Kramer is known for his “entrance” by which he makes his appearance by quickly opening the door of Jerry’s apartment and sliding into the room. He is also known for his strange appearance which reflects his outdated lifestyle. For example, he prefers to wear second-hand clothes that are too small. After being told by Jerry that “we’re neighbours, what mine is yours”, Kramer frequently uses Jerry’s stuff, including the refrigerator and the phone (Faulstich 2008). Moreover, Kramer is unemployed and does not express any willingness to find a job; however, he can get somehow money when he needs it. This contradiction in Kramer’s life is described in the episode “The Visa” by George Costanza who considers Kramer’s life to be a fantasy camp: “People should plunk down two thousand dollars to live like him for a week. Do nothing, fall ass-

backwards into money, mooch food off your neighbors, and have sex without dating! That’s a fantasy camp!”. Kramer’s first name was unknown to the audience until the episode “The Switch” in the sixth season when his mother called him Babs Kramer (Jerry Seinfeld Club).