  For finite Lie algebras, it is shown that characters can be defined first for
Weyl orbits and then for irreducible representations. For $A_N$ Lie algebras,
weight multiplicities can then be calculated by only stating that characters
are equivalent to Schur functions. This also means that to calculate characters
there is no need to sum over Weyl groups. The compatibility with the Weyl
character formula will however be shown.
