The book "I, Claudius" was my introduction to the main-character-in-the-corner viewpoint. Written by Robert Graves in 1934, it is a fictional account of the life of a real emperor of Rome. Claudius Tiberius, like the main character of the movie "My Left Foot" and unpleasant Madame Lafarge in the book "Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens, was an observer. The audience knows that the character is more important and more powerful than the other characters recognize. Claudius was unimpressive physically, had a limp and was slightly deaf. Madame L. was a "mere woman" and older as well . During palace purges and assassinations, Claudius didn't seem enough of a threat and so survived. Madame L. was a woman.
The opening scene of "My Left Foot" lets the audience see how intelligent the main character is, much as the world-famous physicist Stephen Hawking, is very intelligent despite difficulties with his body and communication. I find that wives are often very intelligent observers who know another side of a man. So, when I get a chance to have a talk with the wife of a man I like and admire, I buckle down.
Husbands and brothers and children of an interesting woman can be good sources of insight into what she is like, as well. However, my experience has been that men, including me, are often not as articulate as women when discussing feelings and apparent emotions in others. One of the most helpful comments on male psychology I ever read was Jack Kornfield, that excellent psychologist, when he wrote that men are especially likely to "dissociate". I didn't even know what that meant but I have since learned that it is the practice of shoving a feeling or a perception under the rug. Stepping onto a wrestling mat in an auditorium filled with people, half of whom want your opponent to defeat you, is a good time to simply "pay no attention" to one's fear and doubts. Male life is filled with opportunities to similarly plow forward with minimal awareness of one's feelings and hopes and dreads.
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
