[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
derision? Of course the theme Sir John chose scandal among scholars
and savants is far removed from my experience. (Pause) But kindness
is not a virtue in a play& nor are playwrights kind.
ARBUTHNOT: An expert speaking! But what about fairness? This is
England& we have laws about fairness. (Pause) Consider libel.
CIBBER: I did. When Sir John died, Newton was eighty-four and ailing.
I thought I d wait
ARBUTHNOT: For Newton to die?
CIBBER: The dead cannot be libeled& even if illuminating human
frailty were considered ground for libel.
ARBUTHNOT: A legal opinion?
CIBBER: A logical one& in a country where the best laws often protect
its worst people& and power and fame often do likewise.
ARBUTHNOT: So we are back to Newton.
CIBBER: We could not have had Calculus without Newton.
Calculus: Act 2, Scene 10 173
ARBUTHNOT: Of course. He discovered it.
CIBBER: But so did Leibniz& and published it first. Therefore, the
calculus would be with us& even without Newton. But our play?
Vanbrugh was right: deepest corruption& and thus vilest scandal& is
intellectual not sexual. The play is about Newton s malfeasance.
ARBUTHNOT: Yet the mirror you use is the Committee.
CIBBER: Well put, Dr. Arbuthnot!
ARBUTHNOT: You did not just complete the play, you played in it!
CIBBER: I m an actor as well as writer.
ARBUTHNOT: A better actor than an author.
CIBBER: (Aside) A judgment I ve heard before.
ARBUTHNOT: Since I was on the Committee
CIBBER: You were also in our play.
ARBUTHNOT: Hardly as a minor character!
CIBBER: Is this a cause for complaint?
ARBUTHNOT: A major one& considering how you depict me.
(Angrily) I m still alive!
CIBBER: And brimful of vigor as you just demonstrated.
ARBUTHNOT: But in terrible health! I suffer deeply from mysterious
fevers and a great stone in my right kidney& a punishment for years of
overindulging my palate. And now the gout! (Grimacing, points to his
foot with his cane)
CIBBER: (Trying to be conciliatory) I m sure you judge yourself too
severely.
ARBUTHNOT: (Ignores the comment) I have buried six of my children
and recently my wife& and now find my reputation buried as well!
CIBBER: (Uncomfortable) Please accept my condolences
ARBUTHNOT: From you& who lashed me with a whip?
174 Newton s Darkness: Two Dramatic Views
CIBBER: A moral whip& and only in a play.
ARBUTHNOT: And therefore worse& with exposure all too public and
thus with pain that much greater. But was it justified? Where did you
learn the facts you purport to describe?
CIBBER: From Sir John.
ARBUTHNOT: And he?
CIBBER: I suspect from Lady Brasenose.
ARBUTHNOT: And she?
CIBBER: From various sources& for instance Bonet.
ARBUTHNOT: The play is about Newton& sage and genius
CIBBER: (Interrupts quickly) And his faults real or perceived as
well as sins or even crimes!
ARBUTHNOT: But how do you know that Lady Brasenose had met
Bonet?
CIBBER: Because&
ARBUTHNOT: Yes?
CIBBER: Because& (Pause)& because she said so.
ARBUTHNOT: You heard her say so?
CIBBER: Our paths have never crossed. She told Sir John.
ARBUTHNOT: He said so?
CIBBER: I assumed& because he so implied.
ARBUTHNOT: Your assumption about the implication is wrong. All
Lady Brasenose knew about Bonet she learned from someone else.
CIBBER: (Defensive) And Moivre?
ARBUTHNOT: (Sarcastic) What did she learn from him& in
Calculus? That he was poor? Every Fellow of the Royal Society knew of
Calculus: Act 2, Scene 10 175
his poverty& and those that could have helped him overcome it&
didn t& not to this day.
CIBBER: (Even more defensive) He told her about fluxions... and
calculus& and
ARBUTHNOT: (Short sardonic laugh) Mathematics? There is precious
little about it in your Calculus. But why should there be? It is about
mathematicians& not mathematics. About Newton and Leibniz& or
Halley and Keill or
CIBBER: You?
ARBUTHNOT: I am not of their scholarly rank& nor did I favor any of
their conflicts. I prefer to resolve discord& sometimes even at great
personal cost. Yet none of them appears on stage& whereas I do! Are
actors not supposed to show rather than tell? (Pause) Newton or Leibniz
and the rest show nothing. What we learn all leads to Lady Brasenose. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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derision? Of course the theme Sir John chose scandal among scholars
and savants is far removed from my experience. (Pause) But kindness
is not a virtue in a play& nor are playwrights kind.
ARBUTHNOT: An expert speaking! But what about fairness? This is
England& we have laws about fairness. (Pause) Consider libel.
CIBBER: I did. When Sir John died, Newton was eighty-four and ailing.
I thought I d wait
ARBUTHNOT: For Newton to die?
CIBBER: The dead cannot be libeled& even if illuminating human
frailty were considered ground for libel.
ARBUTHNOT: A legal opinion?
CIBBER: A logical one& in a country where the best laws often protect
its worst people& and power and fame often do likewise.
ARBUTHNOT: So we are back to Newton.
CIBBER: We could not have had Calculus without Newton.
Calculus: Act 2, Scene 10 173
ARBUTHNOT: Of course. He discovered it.
CIBBER: But so did Leibniz& and published it first. Therefore, the
calculus would be with us& even without Newton. But our play?
Vanbrugh was right: deepest corruption& and thus vilest scandal& is
intellectual not sexual. The play is about Newton s malfeasance.
ARBUTHNOT: Yet the mirror you use is the Committee.
CIBBER: Well put, Dr. Arbuthnot!
ARBUTHNOT: You did not just complete the play, you played in it!
CIBBER: I m an actor as well as writer.
ARBUTHNOT: A better actor than an author.
CIBBER: (Aside) A judgment I ve heard before.
ARBUTHNOT: Since I was on the Committee
CIBBER: You were also in our play.
ARBUTHNOT: Hardly as a minor character!
CIBBER: Is this a cause for complaint?
ARBUTHNOT: A major one& considering how you depict me.
(Angrily) I m still alive!
CIBBER: And brimful of vigor as you just demonstrated.
ARBUTHNOT: But in terrible health! I suffer deeply from mysterious
fevers and a great stone in my right kidney& a punishment for years of
overindulging my palate. And now the gout! (Grimacing, points to his
foot with his cane)
CIBBER: (Trying to be conciliatory) I m sure you judge yourself too
severely.
ARBUTHNOT: (Ignores the comment) I have buried six of my children
and recently my wife& and now find my reputation buried as well!
CIBBER: (Uncomfortable) Please accept my condolences
ARBUTHNOT: From you& who lashed me with a whip?
174 Newton s Darkness: Two Dramatic Views
CIBBER: A moral whip& and only in a play.
ARBUTHNOT: And therefore worse& with exposure all too public and
thus with pain that much greater. But was it justified? Where did you
learn the facts you purport to describe?
CIBBER: From Sir John.
ARBUTHNOT: And he?
CIBBER: I suspect from Lady Brasenose.
ARBUTHNOT: And she?
CIBBER: From various sources& for instance Bonet.
ARBUTHNOT: The play is about Newton& sage and genius
CIBBER: (Interrupts quickly) And his faults real or perceived as
well as sins or even crimes!
ARBUTHNOT: But how do you know that Lady Brasenose had met
Bonet?
CIBBER: Because&
ARBUTHNOT: Yes?
CIBBER: Because& (Pause)& because she said so.
ARBUTHNOT: You heard her say so?
CIBBER: Our paths have never crossed. She told Sir John.
ARBUTHNOT: He said so?
CIBBER: I assumed& because he so implied.
ARBUTHNOT: Your assumption about the implication is wrong. All
Lady Brasenose knew about Bonet she learned from someone else.
CIBBER: (Defensive) And Moivre?
ARBUTHNOT: (Sarcastic) What did she learn from him& in
Calculus? That he was poor? Every Fellow of the Royal Society knew of
Calculus: Act 2, Scene 10 175
his poverty& and those that could have helped him overcome it&
didn t& not to this day.
CIBBER: (Even more defensive) He told her about fluxions... and
calculus& and
ARBUTHNOT: (Short sardonic laugh) Mathematics? There is precious
little about it in your Calculus. But why should there be? It is about
mathematicians& not mathematics. About Newton and Leibniz& or
Halley and Keill or
CIBBER: You?
ARBUTHNOT: I am not of their scholarly rank& nor did I favor any of
their conflicts. I prefer to resolve discord& sometimes even at great
personal cost. Yet none of them appears on stage& whereas I do! Are
actors not supposed to show rather than tell? (Pause) Newton or Leibniz
and the rest show nothing. What we learn all leads to Lady Brasenose. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]