Write your abstract
here.
The death of Lord Ralph Arnold
Alexander
Tancred
Gurney, apart from the embarrassing
circumstances
(he'd
hung himself while wearing a cocked
hat,
Grenadier
jacket
and ballet skirt) has left the Gurneys
in a
difficult
spot.
He's passed on the bulk of the estate
to
his son,
which
might
be
natural enough except that the boy is
mad---
confined to
a
sanatorium though only voluntarily---
which
is
why
he's
able
to appear suddenly, late for the
funeral
but in
time
for
the reading of the will. Dressed as a
Capuchin
monk
with a
gentle smile and shoulder-length
flowing
locks,
young
Jack
Gurney thinks he's Jesus Christ!
literally. "Fine
figure
he'd make gibbering in the house of
Lords!"
It won't do. Jack must be certified
insane
and
committed
before he does something disastrous
like
redistribute
Gurney land and wealth more equitably.
First,
though,
he
must produce an heir. "We've decided
that
you
must
take
a
wife." "Who from?" From Ralph's half
brother
Charles,
principal schemer, as it happens---Jack
believes
he's
already married to Marguerite Gauthier,
La
Dame
Aux
Camellias, and Charles' mistress Grace
Shelley
has
the
figure and voice for the part. (Charles
schemed
first
to
marry her to Ralph, before the Noble
Lord
jilted
her
for
Lady Hemp.) Once Jack's persuaded to
renew
his
vows
(cousin
Bertie's an Archbishop so of course
it's
legal)
and
has
successfully mounted and invested the
fortress
of
Grace,
proceedings can be instituted for
having
him
declared
insane, and formally committed.
the psychiatrist Dr. Herder wanats
to
change
the
script
by curing Jack---as Lady Claire
says "Making
him
sane
like
the rest of us" (which in context is
one of
the
play's
funniest lines). He succeeds, or
appears to-
--
but
his
is a
killing cure. Partly because it's
surrounded
and
inflected
by the plot against Jack, partly
because
his
concern is
humane but his methods icy and brutal.
Jack
is
cured of
the
delusion that he is the God of love:
love's
been
stripp'd
from his world and he arises a new God,
the
God
of
wrath
and vengeance. "Trade name? Jack the
Ripper."
What's with the aging manservant
Daniel
Tucker?
He's
inherited enough money to retire and
frequently
announces
his plans to, but stays on. Out of fear
and
habit
as he
speculates? Or is it in part because
he's
touched
by
Jack
and disturbed by the plots he senses
being
mounted
against
him? to the extent he stays on out of
affection
for
Master
Jack, he's brutally repaid.)
The last act's a killer.