Douglas Goldring
(1887-1960) was a well-known British novelist and critic during the first
quarter of the twentieth century. He did try his hand at playwriting at least
once and the result is The Fight for
Freedom. Goldring states in his Introduction to The Fight for Freedom that this play “was written in loneliness and
exile during the last three months of the war.” In 1918 he was living in
Ireland and feeling removed from being “a London man-about-town.”
At the outset of World
War One, Goldring enlisted and within a short time was invalided. In 1916 he
began to oppose the war and believed the British government should negotiate
peace with Germany. Opposition to war
became an integral part of Goldring’s lifelong intellectual attitude.
The
Fight for Freedom is a four act play set in London during
the first week of August, 1918. During
this week the actual events of the war had the Allied Forces winning. This was
when the Second Battle of the Marne was won by the Allied Forces. Also on
various other fronts, the Allies were pushing the enemy armies back from their previously
victorious positions.
Act One occurs in the
dining-room of Miss Eleanor Lambert’s house located in Chelsea. Miss Lambert is a sixty year old with a
willowy figure and a political position on all issues. She is hosting a small evening party. The
five characters who remain chatting in the dining room after supper are The
Very Reverend Samuel Slaughter, known as the Dean of Devizes, his wife—Mrs.
Slaughter, Mrs. Lambert—Eleanor’s sister-in-law, Margaret Lambert—Eleanor’s
twenty-two year old niece and Philip Henderson—the thirty-six year old brother
of Margaret’s fiancĂ©. This group is firmly divided between those with
conservative views verses Margaret and her Aunt Eleanor who hold revolutionary
ideas. A late arrival to this group is Oliver Beeching--a thirty year old
Socialist, who loves Margaret. During this
act, the characters chat and discuss their political positions.
Act Two is the following
afternoon. The setting is the comfortable sitting-room in Phillip Henderson’s
flat. Phillip is home with his younger brother, Captain Michael Henderson, who
is home on a short leave from the trenches in France. Michael has learned from
Phillip that Margaret is breaking off their engagement since she loves another
man. Margaret comes to the flat. After Phillip
leaves, Margaret is left alone with Michael to discuss their situation. Michael
puts a drug into her glass flute filled with Moet Champagne. He ravishes her
when she is unconscious.
Act Three takes place the
next day in Mrs. Lambert’s drawing-room. The Dean of Devizes and his wife are
announced. Mrs. Lambert has called them
to give her advice regarding poor Margaret’s situation. There is much discussion. Eventually the Dean
determines that Margaret must marry Michael immediately. Once Margaret enters
the scene, she disagrees with the verdict on several levels. She plans to marry Oliver, who she believes
will be supportive as well as understanding.
The marriage discussion is based on Victorian ideas about women and
Margaret will not cave to those standards.
Act Four takes place in
the drawing-room of Eleanor Lambert’s house. It is the next day and Margaret is
waiting for Oliver to come to visit. She has found some comfort being with her
Aunt. Oliver arrives and he spouts Socialist positions on the situation. He is
a big disappointment to Margaret.
Finally she declares she will make her own fight for freedom—“Freedom to
be myself.” The end of the play comes
with two more surprises. It is best to
read it since it has many moments that could resonate with a contemporary
reader.
The
Fight for Freedom was published in England (1919) and in
the United States (1920). The New York publisher was Thomas Seltzer
(1875-1943). Seltzer started his publishing company in 1919 and he was
interested in bringing outstanding young British and European authors to
American readers. In 1920 Seltzer
published both this play and Goldring’s novel titled Morgot’s Progress, which was an extremely successful book. Since
1912, Goldring’s writings were well-known in North American. Seltzer was not taking a big gamble with
Goldring’s novel. Seltzer also was interested in drama. It was reported in the Atlanta Constitution on September 26, 1920 that Seltzer liked to
publish the “repertory theater type of play.”
The American edition of
this play includes a Preface written by Henri Barbusse (1873-1935). He was a significant French war author whose recognition
commenced in 1910. Barbusse stated: “When the International People’s Theatre is
founded, one of the first plays it ought to put on is Douglas Goldring’s
beautiful drama, The Fight for Freedom.”
Barbusse was interested in the
proletarian movements that were taking place in a number of countries. He
applauded The Fight for Freedom since
it presented the English Socialist Revolution as an in-progress movement that
had momentum.
Half-way through
Goldring’s Introduction in the American publication, he takes up the idea that
England needs a “Drama League” or International People’s Theatre movement. He does not believe The Fight for Freedom will be
produced in the commercial theatres of England, but he mentions that it was
translated into German and published in Die
Weissen Blatter—a leading monthly magazine. Goldring believed that The Fight for Freedom would be produced
by a Frankfort theatre during the winter of 1920. He also mentioned signing an agreement for
the play to be translated into Hungarian. Whether these plans were realized, I
do not know.
I did find The Fight for Freedom interesting to
read and believe it is informative about some of the British political
attitudes in 1918-1919 as well as the prevailing women’s issues. Please contact me if you find any records
regarding a production of this play either in the 1920’s or a more recent
production.
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