  Drama
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It's often said that life is made up of relationships. Whether we're talking about our work acquaintances, friends, family members, spouse or children those relationships are a fundamental part of who we are, and are largely responsible for our characters and our behaviour. There's drama in all relationships, from our dealings with work colleagues to our personal partner. No two people are ever the same, so it stands to reason our relationships with others can be filled with great joy and great pain. How we react to and deal with the latter is a challenge for a writer, because you will want to show both parties' points of view. |
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Marriage and family relationships are a staple of the drama genre. Not only do they give us a chance to explore the deepest and most intimate workings of our own psyche, they can also be used to create social workings and fears. Writers can use all aspects of family life to explore our deepest hopes and fears for our own relationships, thus connecting with a reader by relating to their own aspirations and fears for those closest to them.
Of all the relationships we have in our life the deepest and most intimate is the one we have with our spouse. That single relationship is the one we want to last for a lifetime, the fairytale we all wish for from the time we learn to read. After all, how many fairytales have you read that end with the "and they all lived happily ever after" line? Most of the time the characters in those early stories went through some seriously tough times before they found Prince or Princess Charming, but once the obstacles to "happily ever after" were dealt with, they got together and supposedly lived... happily ever after. Snow White was drugged into a deep sleep after being tricked into eating a poisoned apple, only to be awakened by her Prince's kiss. We're told her life was full of joy and happiness from that point on. Then there's Cinderella, forced to work as a servant to her spiteful step mother and step sisters. Her happiness was complete once her Prince fitted that tiny slipper on her foot. Another "happily ever after" tale...
On Saturday I went to a wedding where both bride and groom were embarking on their second trip down the aisle. Both have three children from their first marriages, but sadly the oldest children from each union refused to attend the wedding. The children are aged 17 and 15, and when their parents' marriages broke up five years earlier it really affected them badly. The bride's former husband has since remarried, and has a child from his second. The groom's first wife was terribly hurt when her husband left her for his new bride, who was one of the couple's close friends. She is still hurting, and her son's support for his mother has been steadfast ever since the marriage broke down. When his father asked him to be his best man at his new wedding his son refused, and drew even further away from his father. This fact caused his father to break down during his speech, something we as guests found surprising as he has always been someone who kept his emotions in check.
Watching the four youngest children playing together was an experience that must surely give the newly married couple hope for their fragmented families. Seeing the groom's oldest daughter consoling her father during his emotional speech was heartbreaking, and spoke volumes. For despite the joy of a wedding, the promise of a new life together and the hope for the future the pain felt by a father who has - temporarily I hope - lost his son's love and trust show me how easy is is to hurt someone because you've lost your heart to another person. Can I understand the child's pain? Not really, because I am fortunate that my parents have been together for over 50 years. How about the first wife's pain? On some level, perhaps, because while I never had children the thought of my husband leaving me for a beautiful woman 15 years younger than myself is not something I want to think about. How does the second wife deal with the hatred and anger her new husband's first wife feels?
This situations has created so many emotions, and so much drama under the surface. For a writer trying to analyse the undercurrents and rationalise the reasons all parties feel and behave the way they do is very interesting. It's very easy to simply dismiss the first wife as older and perhaps not as attractive to her husband as she once was, but perhaps there's a reason not one of us will ever know for his decision to leave the mother of his children for another woman. And he chose a married woman with three children... what happened to make her leave her marriage for her friend's husband? How does a writer make these characters likeable and believable, ensuring your readers care about each character and what happens to them?
When they work relationships can be wonderful, fulfilling and exciting. When they go wrong the fallout can be catastrophic, causing pain, hurt and hatred to not just the wronged party but also to those close to them. This can and often does spill over to friends and colleagues of the aggrieved spouse, and his or her reactions to the split often destroy any hope of establishing some form of friendship with the new partner. Perhaps writing is one way of working through the pain, when one considers some of the books about broken partnerships that have become staples of modern fiction:
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
Marc Antony finds himself seduced by exotic Egypt, falling in love with that country's beautiful Queen Cleopatra. He abandons his wife, his family and his home country Rome to indulge himself with his new love and his life with his new lover...
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
This story of secret love affairs, deep passions and lies is considered a classic, and perfectly representative of the era in which it was written. Told through the eyes of a man who witnesses the doomed relationships, and finds himself ultimately disillusioned with his life and his role in Gatsby's and Daisy's lives.
A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh
Set in the 1930s, this book describes the breakdown of a marriage after the son dies in a riding accident. The husband deals with the situation by taking a trip abroad, while his wife's relationship with her new lover breaks down after she learns her divorce settlement will not be as substantial as she thought. The novel has a few interesting twists for both characters.
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
When Cecilia finds a letter from her husband, instructing her to open it only on his death, she becomes suspicious. Thinking he is admitting to an affair she eventually opens the letter, which contains a horrifying secret that has still to be resolved...
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
On their fifth wedding anniversary Amy disappears. Her husband Nick becomes the prime suspect, having increased her life insurance and bought a business. he seems cold and unemotional when appearing in public to talk about Amy, but is she dead or is she alive and planning to destroy her husband. Nobody is exactly as they appear in this book.
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#462494 by Not Available. |
He was appalled as much by his lying as by what it revealed. He feared that what she'd said was true - that she'd used up the opportunities, whether decreed by God or biology, she'd been meant to have.
A smile grew as I realized that I could do whatever I wanted without having to ask permission! I looked around at the people sitting on the benches near me.
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#700366 by Not Available. |
Living with an amenable, if predictable, gentle man like Richard became tolerable; she’d intended to plod along as she was, enjoying the comfortable lifestyle she had with Richard and supplementing her other needs with Ed, who she loved passionately but who could never keep her in the manner to which she’d become accustomed.
| |  | Turning Point (E)
A story through dialogue and narration showing action and tone of voice for SSW
#650783 by Vivian   |
"I know, but nothing has worked, not even your screaming at him like you just did."
"You heard what he said, what he called me." Tears threatened to choke her. "He told me that I was worthless. He called me an interfering..."
Looking in the mirror she straightens her veil, smooths out her wedding gown, and smiles.
"OK Carla, you can do this. I Just hope this false mask you're wearing fools everyone...including me" |
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Drama: July 16, 2014 Issue [#6436]
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