Casablanca Character Analysis

In the 1942 classic, Casablanca, Rick is the American owner of the prominent bar, Café Américain, where people from all over the Moroccan city come to gamble and make shady deals to escape the place. Despite all of the drama and variety of people that pass through, however, Rick has remained largely uninvolved, maintaining a strictly neutral stance with all who know him. This all changes, however, the day his ex-lover and her husband stop in. Despite his character’s initial detachment, Bogart allows the viewer to see the emotions of Rick through his interactions with Ilsa, Victor, and Captain Louis Renault.

First, and perhaps most prominently, is Rick’s interaction with Ilsa. Ilsa is Rick’s lover. They had met in Paris and fell in love. He
Lazlo is a fugitive fighting against the Nazi regime. He acts as a sort of juxtaposition to Rick’s character, they are two sides of the same coin. They are generally good characters who tend to fight for a good cause. While Rick is seen as a cloak and dagger, not personally involved man, while Lazlo is the hero fighting against the villains head on. Rick respects Lazlo and his patriotism. Rick ends up lying to Lazlo about his affair with Ilsa. Not only can this be seen as a way to protect her, but to protect Lazlo himself as well. Typically, in film or literature, when a love triangle is involved, in this case Rick vs. Lazlo for Ilsa, the two male characters are competing for the woman’s affection. This isn’t the case in Casablanca. Ilsa is Victor Lazlo’s wife. While she may have loved, and still loves, Rick, she is committed to the husband she made her vows with. When she was together with Rick, she had thought he was dead. Rick acknowledges this. He also acknowledges the fact that Ilsa and Lazlo need each other. With the visas, he could have left with her, or left be himself, yet he didn’t. Instead, he puts aside any of his personal feelings and has the two of them leave together. Instead of selfishness, he shows on compassion for both humanity and the
Captain Renault is a police officer of the Vichy French, who were allied with the Nazis back in World War II. As such, it is Renault’s duty to uphold the law of the Nazi’s and in his best interest to “maintain order” and round up any undesirables. Renault is corrupt, often abusing the power he has, and is a frequent gambler at Rick’s bar. It is interesting, however, to watch the dynamic between Rick and himself, as Rick’s neutrality lets him not only interact with his usual refugee and local customers, but the likes of Captain Renault as well, allowing for the two personalities to play off of each other. The Captain, in turn, knows more about Rick and how he works than most other people. There is some degree of trust between the two, given how much they allow each other to get away with. Renault likes to gamble and often wins because Rick lets him. He is aware of some of Rick’s past actions, often calling him out for being a sentimentalist. Rick had previously been involved in two political causes, supporting the losing side in conflicts in Spain and Ethiopia. Their interactions throughout the movie show that the two go way back, as neither seem to truly get upset with the other for some of the stunts they pull off. Renault closes down the bar on Rick under Major Strasser’s orders, using gambling as an excuse. While it is an obvious hypocrisy on his part, it can also serve as a hint towards