Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Jean

The antagonist role gets a little trickier than the protagonist. In a way, you could argue that all of the rhinoceroses—and therefore the whole of society—serve as antagonists for Berenger. However, Jean fits most into the role, even though he disappears at the end of Act 2. It’s kind of a love-hate bromance turned battle of the species.

From the first time we see him, Jean is bent on challenging Berenger. Jean wants Berenger to change. Jean wants Berenger to be more like Jean. It’s only fitting then that Jean’s transformation into the rhino is the only one that puts Berenger directly in any sort of physical danger:

JEAN: I’ll trample you, I’ll trample you down!

[A lot of noise comes from the bathroom, trumpetings, objects falling, the sound of a shattered mirror; then BERENGER reappears, very frightened; he closes the bathroom door with difficulty against the resistance that is being made from inside.] (2.2.424-428)

Yikes.

So, the two spar verbally in Act 1, and then come to the brink of physical confrontation in Act 2. Jean is, according to Berenger, Berenger’s closest friend, but he plays an adversarial role the entire time the two are on stage together. What started out as just a bone to pick turned into a whole horn.