They are both slender and good-looking, but Micaela has braided hair, is wearing a blue dress which is buttoned up to the neck, walks demurely and is quiet and still. Carmen's hair flies freely, the top buttons on her blouse are left open, she strides assertively and is in constant motion. If these two are shown at the same time or simultaneously, their contrast is immediately apparent, even obvious and flagrant. When Micaela is on the left and Carmen on the right we viewers will generally look at the left side first and then to the right, which means that we will perceive Carmen in contrast to our initial perception of Micaela. The images register through our eyes and onto our brain in a split second, and we naturally accept what we are being given without questioning it or without examining the results and implications.
Sequence allows a far deeper presentation of the character's qualities.
By giving us Micaela first and showing her various actions for several minutes, we are fed several different kinds of evidence about what she is supposed to be like. A little later on, we are given a similar session with Carmen acting out the nature of her own personality. The intensified characterization has already been accomplished at the border of our unconscious and conscious minds by what the author has given us. The phenomenon can also be simultaneous if, for instance, two characters are engaged in dialogue. They talk, they are described, and we ping-pong back and forth, formulating our opinions about them as a result.