There is little consensus on the narratological status of literary characters. Structuralist theory: Characters are vehicles for the plot, which are in principle interchangeable, only narrative units and motifs constitute the fundamental conditions of a narrative. Greimas's actantial model: The subject desires an object; the helper assists the subject in obtaining the object; the opponent works against the helper; the sender initiates an action; the recipient benefits from either the action or the object. Whether or not the subject obtains the object depends on power relations. More recent approaches: Characters exist outside of Histoire and Discours, or rather belong to both. Chatman: Narratives consist of vents (actions, happenings) and existents (characters, setting). In the Middle Ages, character types are particularly important; identity arises fundamentally through group affiliation.