I would want to argue the central fact that supports the
claim that Chanticleer (or Chauntecleer depending on the translation) is a round
character is actually the way that he clearly shows he has learnt from his experiences
with the fox by the end of the tale and also the way that he admits his own foolishness
in giving in to the fox's flattery in the first place.
Let
us just remind ourselves that a round character is a character who is shown to us in
their full psychological complexity, rather than the rather two-dimensional nature of
flat characters, who have but one or two character traits. We certainly see the full
complexity of Chanticleer at the end of the tale when he talks to the fox when the fox
asks him to come down:
You'll not, with your soft soap and
flatteries,
Get me to sing again, and close my
eyes!
To him who shuts his eyes when he should
look,
And that on purpose, the Lord send bad
luck!
Here we see Chanticleer
being open about the way that he was almost fatally susceptible to "soft soap and
flatteries," admitting his faults, but then also learning from this and integrating this
into his character, showing that he is a round character rather than a flat
one.
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