(Grantgives a start towards the door, thinking the voice has come from his wife’s room.)
(Grantgives a start towards the door, thinking the voice has come from his wife’s room.)
Tom
Oh, that isn’t your wife.
Grant
Then if you’ve some friend concealed about your person, hadn’t you better produce her?
Tom
That isn’t my friend; that’s my wife.
Grant
Your humor isn’t inspiring. I’ve heard that brilliant retort before.
Tom
Certainly. You wrote it yourself; but you stole it fromMolière. If I had your memory I’d be witty, too.
Grant
(Looking about)
I don’t seem to see Mrs. Robinson very clearly.
Tom
She says you never did. Come to think of it, she’s no longer Mrs. Robinson.
Grant
Oh, I forgot. InThe Lonely Wayyou divorced her.
Tom
Marie and I haven’t been on speaking terms since; butaftershe sawThe Sand Barshe simply insisted on coming here.
Grant
Well, I’ll be happy to hear her grievance, too.
Tom
(Ominously)
You won’t think us so amusing when we are through with you.
Grant
As a dramatist, I admire your talent for suspense. (Calling) Come in, Mrs. Robinson.
Tom
(Correcting him)
Case. Mrs. Pendleton Case. You’ve also forgotten that inThe Lonely Wayyou made her marry him.
Grant
To be sure. But inThe Sand BarI made her stay with you.
Tom
Yes. That’s one of her grievances.
Grant
Come in, Mrs. Case.
(GrantwatchesMariecome slowly from behind the curtains, into the light. Then he sees a handsome woman of thirty-five,bien soignéeto the last degree. Yet somehow toGranther manner is an assumption she has acquired and not inherited. Beneath her vivid personality, her unrestrained moods glitter with force if not heat. But now she eyes him steadily withthe greatest contempt. She wears a magnificent opera cloak, clutched close to her. She carries a small hand bag.ThoughMarieandTomare aware of each other’s presence, they never address each other; they speak to each other throughGrantas though they existed only in him.)
(GrantwatchesMariecome slowly from behind the curtains, into the light. Then he sees a handsome woman of thirty-five,bien soignéeto the last degree. Yet somehow toGranther manner is an assumption she has acquired and not inherited. Beneath her vivid personality, her unrestrained moods glitter with force if not heat. But now she eyes him steadily withthe greatest contempt. She wears a magnificent opera cloak, clutched close to her. She carries a small hand bag.
ThoughMarieandTomare aware of each other’s presence, they never address each other; they speak to each other throughGrantas though they existed only in him.)
Grant
Do sit down.
Tom
Oh, Marie will sit down. Don’t worry.
(Before she sits she carelessly throws her cloak over the same chair thatGranthad previously thrown his coat. She stands revealed in a beautiful evening gown. It seems to proclaim toGranther daring and contempt for conventions.)
(Before she sits she carelessly throws her cloak over the same chair thatGranthad previously thrown his coat. She stands revealed in a beautiful evening gown. It seems to proclaim toGranther daring and contempt for conventions.)
Marie
After what I’ve just heard I don’t know whether it’s worth while to waste words on a creature like you.
Grant
(Very politely throughout)
Your husband seems to have succeeded in doing it.
Tom
Her husband? Don’t try to saddle her off on me. Once was enough.
Marie
It’s only our contempt for you, Mr. Williams, that finds us two together.
Grant
To be sure. I keep forgetting.
(Marietakes a cigarette out of the hand bag;Grantoffers her a light.)
(Marietakes a cigarette out of the hand bag;Grantoffers her a light.)
Permit me.
(She glares at him and refuses it. As she searches her hand bag for a match, a small pistol accidentally falls to the floor.Grantquickly picks it up and hands it to her. She replaces it. He offers her another light, which she sullenly accepts.)
(She glares at him and refuses it. As she searches her hand bag for a match, a small pistol accidentally falls to the floor.Grantquickly picks it up and hands it to her. She replaces it. He offers her another light, which she sullenly accepts.)
Marie
I wouldn’t accept anything from you, only, in my haste, I forgot my matches. (She crosses one knee over the other and puffs.) Brr—it’s cold here.
Tom
(Bluntly)
She wants a drink.
Grant
Will she accept it from me?
Tom
She’ll take it from anybody.
Grant
Oh, yes, I remember. I beg your pardon.
Marie
(Seeing him lift up the milk bottle)
Milk!
Grant
(Apologetically)
When I gave you your fondness for alcohol inThe Lonely Way, we didn’t have prohibition.
Marie
Was that the reason you took it away from Marie when you changed her inThe Sand Bar?
Grant
Not exactly. You see no leading lady can ever have a real thirst. I’m sorry if you’re cold.
Tom
Oh, Mrs. Case will warm up when she remembers what you’ve done to her. She had a wonderful temper when she lived with me.
Marie
I had to have. And you also took that away from me.
Grant
I’m very sorry, Mrs. Case; the leading lady didn’t like your temper either.
Marie
ButIliked it. It was part of my character, as you originally conceived me.
Grant
Yes; a character touch. It was the only comedy relief in my play.
Tom
It may have been comedy to you but it was no relief to me.
Marie
(Emotionally)
My temper was my defense and my attack. It aroused fear and respect. Through it I got what I wanted out of life. It was mine! Mine! And you took it away from me! Oh!
(She rushes angrily towards the milk bottle and lifts it above her as though to smash it; butGrantstops her.)
(She rushes angrily towards the milk bottle and lifts it above her as though to smash it; butGrantstops her.)
Tom
(As he lights another cigarette)
There you see. Every time she thinks of what a temper she has she loses it.
Grant
(Still holding the bottle with her)
I concede your temper. I always had a hard time to control it. (Taking it from her courteously.) It was one of your most unpleasant traits.
Marie
(Sullenly)
Then why did you change me?
Grant
It’s a professional secret, Mrs. Case. The leading lady hasn’t the capacity to reach the heights your wonderful temper demanded. Besides, her specialty is cuteingénuestuff. She’s a great popular favorite, you know, and is consequently afraid to lose her following by playing any part which lacks charm.
Tom
(Bitterly)
Charm! Charm! There it is again, Williams. You hadn’t a bit of respect for Mrs. Case’struecharacter so you made her charming.
Marie
But you gave me a charm all my own before I married Tom.
Tom
She kept it to herself; I never suspected it after we were married.
Marie
But, Mr. Williams, you knew no one could live with Tom Robinson and not lose her charm. All he really wanted of me was to cook his chops and wash his dishes.
Tom
She seems to forget she was my wife and that I was a genius. She wanted me to get my precious fingers red and rough in a dish pan.
Marie
(Flaring)
No. I wanted him to be a human being, not an artist.
Grant
(Who has been trying to speak throughout)
Please. Please. Remember you two are no longer married.
Tom
You see: she’s warming up.
Marie
(Bitterly)
How like old times.
Grant
By Jove. I remember now. (Opening manuscript.) I remember everything about you.
Marie
Don’t be humorous. There’s lots about your own characters you authors never know.
Tom
That’s what critics are for.
Marie
So don’t try to make my temper seem trivial, Mr. Williams. I valued it. It gave me a chance to assert myself. It kept me alive as an individual. InThe Lonely Way, while I was his wife, you made my whole fight to keep from being swamped by his personality.
Tom
As a married man yourself, Williams, you know damn well that women have got to capitulate in marriage. We husbands have got to close the door on them when they don’t understand us.
Marie
(Contemptuously)
And inThe Sand Bar, Marie didn’t have the courage to take the things of life that lay outside the door! She didn’t dare, like me, because you’d changedherinto a sweet simpering woman who loved her husband.
Tom
But the Tom Robinson she loved there isn’t the Tom Robinson you see here.
Marie
No. The other is a hero! He’s a halo on legs.
Grant
Your ignorance of theatrical conditions is appalling.The Sand Barhadto have a happy ending. If Ihadn’t made you both charming the public wouldn’t have believed in your ultimate happiness together.
Tom
(Bringing his hand down on the table)
Now we’re getting at it. Why the devil did you bring us together?
Grant
(Trying to explain elementally)
Because I’d turned you into the hero and you into the heroine. They must always come together for the final curtain.
Marie
But I wasn’t a heroine.
Tom
No. She’s right there.
Marie
(Emotionally)
I was a bitter, disillusionized woman. I saw how Tom Robinson succeeded in getting out of life what he wanted by being relentless. I, too, became relentless and married Pendleton Case because he could give me whatImost wanted.
Grant
(Beginning from now on to lose his patience)
Yes; but that was too unsympathetic a motive touse in a popular play. So Ihadto make Pendleton Case a villain who took advantage of your trust in him.
Marie
But Penny was only a poor gullible fool consumed by my egotism. Why were you so unfair to him? Why did you make him a villain?
Tom
Yes. I want to know why you gave him all my vices?
Grant
If Case hadn’t had all your vices, Marie wouldn’t have had all the sympathy.
Marie
I didn’t want sympathy; I wanted clothes!
Grant
(Confused)
But the leading lady has to, have sympathy even without clothes. I mean——
Tom
(Quickly)
Do you mean that the reason you made me sacrifice my art inThe Sand Barand rescue her from Case was because she had to have sympathy?
Grant
Exactly. And, besides, how was an audience going to know you were a hero unless you sacrificed something?
Tom
But I’m not a hero: I’m an artist. You know the real reason I got rid of her was because she stood in the way of my art; because I wouldn’t let a single human responsibility weaken the vision within me.
Marie
Wasn’t that reason enough why I should leave him?
Grant
But that was too abstract an idea for the audience to get.
Marie
So you turned an abstraction into a villain!
Grant
Can’t you see your husband couldn’t rescue you from an abstraction?
Marie
But I didn’t want to be rescued. I wanted to marry Penny!
Tom
And I was tickled to death to get rid of her.
Marie
Yes. It meant release for us both to be ourselves.
Grant
But, Robinson, youhadto rescue her. She was the leading lady. The manager pays her five hundred dollars a week to marry the star.
Marie
Well, she earns it.
Grant
She earns it because she draws.
Tom
(Surprised)
Does she paint, too?
Grant
She draws that much money into the box office.
Tom
Money, money! How that runs through your talk.
Marie
(Referring toTom)
I wish to heaven it had run through his.
Tom
(Lifting his voice angrily)
I was above such things. I am an artist. Money! Money! I see red when I hear that word. Money! Money! The curse of true art.
Grant
(Pointing to his wife’s door)
Please, please; not so loud. You’ll wake the baby.
Marie
(With a poignant cry)
Oh!
Grant
What’s the matter with you?
Marie
I forgot all about that. You also took my baby away from me inThe Sand Bar.
Tom
So far as I was concerned that was the only decent thing you did. I had to make money for the child.
Marie
Have you forgotten that was the other reason I left him? He didn’t love our child: it was in his way.
Tom
Love a mewling, puking child? Not much.
Grant
(Trying to calm her as she walks up and down)
Sh! Control yourself.
Marie
My love for the child was the only decent thing about me.
Grant
But I gave you other virtues. I made you love your husband.
Marie
If Ihadto love my husband in your revised version couldn’t I at least have kept my child?
Grant
Don’t be unreasonable. No leading lady wants a child.
Marie
So you took it away to please the leading lady!
Grant
Can’t you understand if I’d given her a child it would have complicated matters?
Tom
You’re right. It certainly complicated matters for me.
Grant
(Trying to explain)
I wanted the struggle to be a simple one between two men and a woman. A child would have been a side-issue.
Marie
You call my child a side-issue! (Looking atTom.) Hasn’t his father anything to say to that?
Tom
(ToGrant)
She can’t get me excited about that brat. It stood in my way. I’d have killed it myself if necessary.
Marie
(ToGrant)
Butyoukilled it instead.
Grant
(Losing patience)
Yes. I killed it for the same reason he would have: because it would have stood in the way of the play’s success. Are you a couple of fools? Can’t you both get into your heads I was writing a play to make money?
Tom
Money! Money again!
Marie
(Astonished as she comes toGrant)
So you killed it for money?
Grant
Yes. Just as I changed you both for money.
Tom
If you’d killed it for art I would have understood. But to kill a creature for money! You are a murderer!
Marie
(Sneering)
And how much blood money will you get for what you have done?
Grant
A thousand dollars a week!
Marie
(Overcome)
My God!
Tom
(Awed)
How much did you say?
Grant
A thousand a week.
Marie
You’re going to get that much for putting me into a popular success?
Grant
Yes.
Tom
She isn’t worth it.
Grant
(Determined to have it out with them)
It was worth it to me. Think of the exquisite joy I had in revising my problem drama. Think of how I turned two hectic, distorted, twisted, selfish, miserable, little-souled characters into two self-sacrificing, sugar-coated, lovable beings!
Tom
You are not only a murderer but a hypocrite: you distorted life to win sympathy for us.
Grant
The theater no longer has anything to do with life. It’s a palace of personality.
Tom
Well, what’s the matter withmypersonality?
Marie
Leaving him aside, what about me?
Grant
You wouldn’t draw a cent. There wasn’t a dollar in either of you.
Marie
Is thatmyfault? You made us what we are.
Grant
Yes; before I learned that the public pays to be pleased. Do you think there’s anything pleasing about either of you? Why, you couldn’t even be happy together.
Tom
This is getting damned personal.
Marie
What right has the public got to be so proud of itself? There’s many a woman in the audience worse than I am.
Grant
But they want to be flattered into believing they are as much like heroes and heroines as you are not. The successful playwright, like the fashionable portrait painter, flatters and never reveals.
Tom
While true artists like me starve?
Grant
And dramatists who write “Lonely Ways” also starve. What are you two kicking so about? Because I’ve made you respectable, wealthy and happy? Do you think the general public cares a whoop in Hades whatIthink of life, of my peculiar slant on the motives that mess up the characters that happen to interestme? No: all they want is what they want life to be.
Tom
How little you know of human nature. If we’d had a chance to be our true selves we would have been appreciated.
Grant
By whom, pray? A few professional soul lovers. And they’d get into the theater on passes. No. You are caviar; most of the world lives on mush. So I mixed you in mush, sentimental glue, anything you want to call it.
Tom
You disgust me.
Marie
ButIsee hope for you. At heart you despise the crowd, as I did its smug conventions.
Grant
(Bitterly)
I hate what it has made me suffer.
Tom
Every great artist has despised them. I despise them.
Grant
(More seriously)
Only I think the public has its rights. They have the right to laugh, to watch virtue triumph, to beholdsuccess, to feel love win out, to see what they think is happiness. They have that right because their own lives are so full of the other things. And maybe they like to dream a little, too.
Marie
Who’s mushy now?
Grant
Don’t sneer at a popular success. It’s sometimes more difficult to perform a trick than climb a mountain peak.
Tom
Haveweartists no rights?
Grant
(Wearily)
Only the right to dream and starve.
Marie
But I’m not an artist: I’m one of your creations. HaveIno rights? Must I be turned into a trained poodle and do tricks for money?
Grant
You are only a phantom, a projection, a figment.
Marie
(With great indignation)
You call me a figment?
Tom
(Rising ominously)
I’m tired of hearing you insult your own flesh and blood.
Grant
I disowned you both when I rewrote you. I was thinking then of only one thing: the public.
Tom
Liar! Youdiddeceive yourself! You were thinking of your wife and child.
Marie
(SeeingGrantis startled)
That gets you. You did this to us for them.
Grant
(Himself serious now throughout)
Yes. I was thinking of them most of all.
Marie
Yet when you created Tom Robinson inThe Lonely Wayyou did not let him think ofhiswife and child.
Tom
That’s where I was bigger than you, Grant Williams!
Grant
You mean more brutal.
Tom
Mush. Mush. You can’t hide behind that. (Impressively.) I am you! I could never have lived had I not been a wish hidden in yourself. I am what you would have been if you had dared!
Grant
How dare you say a thing like that? I made you. I knew you inside and out.
Tom
But you didn’t know yourself.Iknew when you wrote me that you wanted to be as relentless as you made me.
Grant
I hated you. I hated every bone beneath your miserable hide!
Tom
(With a triumphant smile)
That only proves it! You were afraid to be yourself; so you created me!
Grant
(Shrinking back)
No.... No....
Tom
You forget people have made gods and devils out of their own dreams to worship and hate. Look at me, through the mask you gave me, and see yourself! Iwas the worst of what was human in you—the devil side of you: I was the best of what was the artist in you—the God within you!
Grant
(As though stunned by the thought)
God and devil. No.... No....
Marie
(Seriously)
Now I see howIcame into being. I was your wife, as part of you saw her! (He protests.) She was in your way, as I was in his way. You made Tom close the door on me because, deep in your soul, you wished to close it on her. She never understood.
Grant
Stop. You shan’t go any further. She stood by me through all these years of poverty. She loves me and understands.
Marie
(Relentlessly)
But you thought her a fool for loving you. You really thought she ought to go. You wanted her to go, I tell you. You wanted her to see that your art meant more to you than her love. But you didn’t have the courage to do to her what you made him do to me!
Grant
(ToTom)
Take her away! I won’t let her say these things. I did what I did to you for Jerry’s sake. I wanted tomake money soshewould be happy. I couldn’t stand it to see her hands grow rough....
Tom
(Contemptuously)
Bosh! Art denies all human responsibility. You made me face that truth with my wife, and when I threw her out I wasyourown inner answer to that eternal question!
Grant
I tell you my love for her is greater than for my art.
Marie
Mush. Mush. It’s time to think of punishment.
Grant
Punishment? (Triumphantly) I have a thousand a week. She will have clothes and comfort. And you talk of punishment!
Marie
(Drawing a pistol and pointing it at him)
What you did to us means your death.
Tom
(Stopping her)
No. You cannot be killed, Grant Williams. You are dead already.
Marie
(About to shoot)
I think I’ll make sure.
Tom
(AsGrantstares at him spellbound)
When you turned your soul into money you died. There is a greater punishment. We’ll let what remains of you live, as we shall live to haunt you in your dreams.
Grant
(Laughing hysterically)
But you can’t live. I killed you. You’re dead, too. And the dead cannot dream.
Tom
We are your dreams. We will outlast you.
Marie
We live. We shall go on living. Yes. That is a greater revenge. We’ll haunt you every time you are alone....
Grant
You can’t. You can’t....
Tom
Whenever you smoke and think in your new house....
Marie
Or walk by the sands, you will see only our hands beckon you from the living waters of the sea....
Grant
(Frantically)
I’ll drown you like rats. I’ll keep you under till you are dead. You shan’t come back ... ever ... ever ... (They both laugh.) Get out. You phantoms.... I’ll kill you again....
Tom
Mush.... Mush....
Grant
I’ll kill you forever now. (He picks up the manuscript ofThe Lonely Wayand savagely tears it up.) Die. Die forever.... Die....
(They laugh loudly and mockingly at him.)
Tom
You see we still live!
Grant
Ah. I’ll kill you yet. I’ll kill you!