Mr Keating

outward appearance	medium height, average looking,  brown hair, brown eyes,  appears to be scholary and resprectable (FW)
function in the constellation of characters	teacher - student (FW) + role model (FW) see below (traits)
social background/past	He was member of the Dead Poets Society and a "hell-raiser" at school (p.31 l. 4) (DH)
traits	"Plato, a gifted person like myself,..."(p.49/5)  As Plato is one of the most dazzling writers in the Western literary tradition and one of the most penetrating, wide-ranging, and influential authors in the history of philosophy, I would say that Mr Keating might be really self-confident and also convinced of his own skills. (MT) sincere and happy about how the class react  proud, sad (the boys had tears in their eyes), it was really a “goose-flesh feeling” (end of the book) (FF) Mr. Keating is a teacher who doesn’t like traditional lessons using textbooks etc. "Neil stopped, and Keating waited a moment to let the lesson sink in. Then Keating grabbed onto his own throat and screamed horribly. AHHHHHHGGGG!! he shouted. Refuse! Garbage! Pus! Rip it out of your books. Go on, rip it out the entire page! I want this rubbish in the trash where it belongs!" (LU) He acts as a kind of role-model. The students look up to him but they can also talk to him, as if they were almost at the same level. He shows them a different style of lessons and wants them to learn not only for school but also for life (e.g. "carpe diem"). (FW)
way of speaking	it seems a bit out of fashion but it sounds very poetic (JA)