Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It involves placing oneself in another's shoes, and experiencing their emotions, perspectives, and situations as if they were your own. Unlike sympathy, which is feeling compassion for someone else's hardship, empathy is a more profound connection because it involves a shared perspective and emotional experience.
Empathy in storytelling, then, is how an audience is able to connect with the characters. This process is what endears us to the characters, their plight, and to ideally root for their success. Not every story needs empathetic characters but empathy remains a cornerstone of storytelling.
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