Internal Contradiction Externalised
Sometimes, especially in fables, the divided self is represented by two separate characters.
This post extends the argument in Sequences: How they Work and it’s accompanying Sample Sequences
Making the Divided Self Visible
In my sample sequences, you may ask yourself, ‘But where’s the contradiction at the heart of the protagonist?’
That’s a fair question. And to some extent there is a contradiction at the heart of the Queen. She has good reasons to love and enjoy being Queen, but at the same time, good reasons to hate it.
Less so for the maid who, if this story did have a single protagonist, would probably be given that title, as she is the one that takes decisive action at the crucial moment.
But that’s not the point. Because this story is not the story of an individual’s struggle, but of a relationship’s struggle.
It’s a fable, and in the fable, the Queen and the maid represent different aspects of the same person. A woman, struggling to find happiness within the roles society imposes on her.
And just as the two central characters represent two halves of the same person, the two worlds the story will put them in, the world of the palace and the world of the village, are two different versions of the same society.
The story is still built on contradiction, but externalised contradiction.
The underlying story logic is still there. Contradictory values within a relationship close enough to be considered a unity are placed under stress by external forces, and forced into open action.
But rather than taking place within one character – one psyche if you wish – they take place within one relationship.
Likewise, instead of the ‘normal world’ vs ‘new world’ dichotomy of most stories (Act 1, normal world; Act 2, new world; Act 3, return to normal world), this story makes explicit that the two worlds are really two versions of the same world.
The Divided Self has been split in two, the Divided Worlds have been joined.
