There is a movie called “Vantage Point” where you see the same story told repeatedly. The basic premise involves a terrorist attack in Europe at a place where the president of the United States is giving a speech. Each time the story is told, you see a little bit more of the event, or the background of the story, or events happening at the same time from different people’s perspectives. You would think seeing the same thing repeatedly gets boring, but it doesn’t. By the end of the movie, you realize that nothing you saw at the beginning of the movie was quite what it seemed, and you’ve had a lovely roller coaster thriller ride to the conclusion.
Robert Browning did something similar in his epic narrative poem/verse book, The Ring and the Book, published in 1868-1869. The first chapter of the poem explains the source of the story. The germ of the story came from a true event – Robert Browning was in Italy and came across an old manuscript from the late 1600’s providing a transcript of the trial and appeal of a man charged with murdering his wife’s parents, a priest the man claimed was running away with his wife, and the wife as well. The story is re-told several times.
After the introduction, the next two chapters, the first telling of the story, are from “the first half of Rome” and the “other half of Rome.” That is, one side is what the mythical “they” are saying about the event, told in a light favorable to the husband, while the other side is what the mythical “they” are saying about the event, told in a light favorable to the wife.
Then the story is told by a lawyer, who claims he is not partial to either side. After that, Browning turns to the trial testimony of the husband, the wife, who, even though she was mortally wounded, miraculously survived long enough to give her testimony, and the priest who was helping the wife escape. The lawyers who tried the case on opposing sides are also given the chance to tell the story as they saw it. Once they finish, the narrative turns to events after the trial and conviction of the husband.
Because the husband was a member of a minor religious order, he appeals his conviction to the pope. The reader is made privy to the deliberations of the pope as he considers the merits of the appeal and the nature of good and evil. The penultimate chapter, and arguably the climax of the book, is the second chapter devoted to the “voice” of the husband, as he speaks in his cell the night before his execution. Then the book concludes with the narrator wrapping everything up. (Fair warning: The Ring and the Book is not an easy read, and I can’t guarantee that every person who finishes the book will have enjoyed it.)
As with the idea behind “Vantage Point,” the premise of The Ring and the Book fascinates me. There is a work-in-progress I have been drafting on and off for years now that follows a slightly different premise involving life choices, but I have my doubts on whether I can pull it off. Still, it’s a fun idea to play with.
If you could tell a story about the same event from different character’s viewpoints, what story would you like to tell?
