Final answer:
The 1950s saw the rise of the anti-hero, a complex protagonist lacking traditional hero qualities but eliciting audience sympathy, paralleling societal tensions during the Cold War. Notable examples include Holden Caulfield and Terry Malloy from 'The Catcher in the Rye' and 'On the Waterfront', respectively, with heroines also emerging with greater complexity in media.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept of the anti-hero emerged as a prominent character archetype in the 1950s. The anti-hero is a type of protagonist who lacks the conventional attributes of a traditional hero but still garners the audience's sympathy. In the 1950s, the anti-hero reflected societal tensions during the Cold War period, such as the fear of communism and the questioning of traditional American values. Amidst the backdrop of McCarthyism and the Hollywood blacklist, which targeted entertainers with suspected communist ties, several protagonists in films and literature could be seen as anti-heroes because of their complex morality and resistance to authoritarian pressure.
Notable anti-heroes and heroines from this era in literature include characters like Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, a disaffected youth who critiques the phoniness of society, and Marlon Brando's character, Terry Malloy, in On the Waterfront, who battles corruption on the docks. These characters embodied the spirit of defiance and introspection that marked the disillusionment and social criticism of the era. Female characters also began to show complexity, with figures like Lillian Hellman's protagonist in The Children's Hour challenging social norms.