Mary Shelley
Page 10
MARY. Then we should have made her strong. Shouldn’t we? Or at least protected her. Surely one life, made happy, is worth more than all the philosophy, all the theorising in the world? If it is our calling, to help in the advancement of mankind, surely we must acknowledge what it is to be human? And if that means sensitivity, or weakness, or rashness, then so be it. People are not gods. And there is nothing to be gained in trying to make them so.
GODWIN. I cannot agree with you.
MARY. No. I don’t suppose you can.
GODWIN. That is an apology for complacency. For indolence. For stupification…
MARY. Why can our humanity not be our strength?
GODWIN. We must seek to analyse the frailties of our nature, and then to reach beyond them…
MARY. I think that is a dangerous philosophy.
Pause.
GODWIN. It is a privilege – to be amongst the legislators of mankind. And you will be, Mary. As your mother was, as I am. And as Shelley will be too.
We are keeping him waiting.
MARY. Yes.
GODWIN. If I were going to lose you to anyone, it were best to him. I see that now.
MARY. You haven’t lost me.
GODWIN. Come then. Society demands its pound of flesh.
He holds out his hand to her. She goes to him and puts her hand in his. He hugs her suddenly.
A privilege.
They leave.
End.
Afterword
This play began with a question: how did Mary Shelley, aged only eighteen, come to write a novel of such weight and power as Frankenstein? I knew the story of the Villa Diodati, and the external impetus for her sitting down to write, but where did the thoughts come from? The themes? For Frankenstein is clearly more than a spine-chiller; it is a novel of ideas.
She dedicated the story to her father, William Godwin, the radical political philosopher. Much has been said about Shelley’s influence on Mary at this time (some have even suggested that he had a hand in writing Frankenstein), but as I began my research, I quickly discovered that Shelley’s own ideas and preoccupations had been inspired to a large degree by Godwinian philosophy. He and Mary shared a passion for her father’s work, and I started to understand that it was this passion more than anything that had equipped her to write so brilliantly about such ideas as the consequences of treating men like beasts.
But there was more. Mary was writing Frankenstein at a time when her relationship with her father was under great strain – when he had refused all contact with her for almost two years. The novel is more than a homage to his philosophies; it is a criticism of his nature and his choices, a warning, a reprimand and a huge cry for understanding. It is these elements, I think, that give Frankenstein its heartfelt urgency and power. I decided to place this complex relationship at the centre of the play, and to see where it took me.
The research I undertook was enormously absorbing and inspiring. Each of the principal characters could be the subject of a play in their own right. I loved delving into Skinner Street – into Mary’s troubled family, patched together from bits and pieces of different relationships, crudely stitched – like the monster himself – into a clumsy, dysfunctional form. I loved discovering her sisters, each of whose fate was so bound up with Mary’s, and learning about the daring and vision of Shelley’s early socialism. It was a pleasure to imagine these people back to life.
And whilst I felt compelled (as Mary did) to depict the very real and awful dangers of putting principles before emotional need, I hope I have not painted too harsh a picture of idealism. For there is something courageous, surely, in striving to break new ground in the perilous business of living. In deciding to deal with the pain, the guilt, the disapproval this entails, in the belief and hope that, ultimately, humanity will be the richer for your efforts.
Helen Edmundson
February 2012
HELEN EDMUNDSON
Helen Edmundson’s first play, Flying, was presented at the National Theatre Studio in 1990. In 1992, she adapted Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina for Shared Experience, for whom she also adapted The Mill on the Floss in 1994. Both won awards – the TMA and the Time Out Awards respectively – and both productions were twice revived and extensively toured. Shared Experience also staged the original adaptation of War and Peace at the National Theatre in 1996, and toured her adaptations of Mary Webb’s Gone to Earth in 2004, Euripides’ Orestes in 2006, the two-part version of War and Peace in 2008 and her original play Mary Shelley in 2012. Her play The Clearing was first staged at the Bush Theatre in 1993, winning John Whiting and Time Out Awards, and Mother Teresa is Dead was premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2002. Her adaptation of Jamila Gavin’s Coram Boy premiered at the National Theatre to critical acclaim in 2005, receiving a Time Out Award. It was subsequently revived in 2006, and produced on Broadway in 2007. She adapted Calderón’s Life is a Dream for the Donmar Warehouse in 2009, and her play The Heresy of Love was produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2012.
A Nick Hern Book
Mary Shelley first published in Great Britain as a paperback original in 2012 by Nick Hern Books Limited, The Glasshouse, 49a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP, in association with Shared Experience, Nottingham Playhouse and West Yorkshire Playhouse
This ebook edition first published in 2012
Mary Shelley copyright © 2012 Helen Edmundson
Helen Edmundson has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work
Cover photograph by Robert Day with Kristin Atherton as Mary Shelley
Cover design by Ned Hoste, 2H
Typeset by Nick Hern Books, London
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 78001 099 1 (ebook edition)
ISBN 978 1 84842 257 5 (print edition)
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title page
Contents
Dedication
Timeline
Original Production
Characters
Act One
Act Two
Act Three
Act Four
Act Five
Afterword
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br /> About the Author
Copyright and Performing Rights Information