in the lives of very public figures, sometimes a certain dramatic event creates a life altering situation. it changes the way the public figure interacts with family, friends and society at large. i refert to the days when media scrutiny was still limited in its ability to make public the private lives of well known figures. the life of abraham lincoln, of queen victoria and that of arthur conan doyle have been documented to show how a death of someone close such as a spouse, impacted the course of their lives.
arthur's wife expected to die daily for nine years, under the sentence of tuberculosis. arthur found a girl whom he identified as his next wife and they waited for jane to die. when she did die, arthur was in too much grief to marry and lost interest in writing his money spinner books on sherlock holmes. he only got back his interest in life after he took up the cause of george edalji,wrongly accused and sentenced to imprisonment for killing horses in the country. [ arthur and george by john banville.]
in the case of queen victoria, she went into deep mourning after typhoid carried away her beloved husband and consort, prince albert. it was a servat fom scotland who used to be close to prince albert, who drew out the queen by taking her out riding, treating her with bracing common sense and giving back her interest in life. the queen drew upon his strength and loyalty to overcome her grief, and resume her royal duties. [her majesty: mrs brown, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119280/]
abraham lincoln was a small time lawyer on the circuit bench married to a wife from a politically active family. he was a devoted father and husband with an interest in politics. however it was the anderson murder case in which lincoln represented the interest of the defense, after turning down the opportunity to be the prosecutor, which was the turning point for a very active interest in politics and for successfully running for president of america.[the case of Abraham Lincoln: a story of adultery, murder, and the making of a great president by julie fenster]
so, what is the learning from these turning points that we read about or view as docu-dramas?
