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Home , Bernard Pomerance, Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man (play), Whitechapel Road

A Closer Look Excerpted and reprinted with permission of Prime Stage Theatre. Original material created by Christina Farrell for Prime Stage Theatre; vol. 3, issue 2, December 15, 2011.

The Elephant Man: A Closer Look 1

THE Presented by the Elephant Commonweal Theatre Company May 19 - September 2, 2017 by BernardM Pomerancean

Essentials The Plot Precis: Due to a rare, disfiguring genetic , the police protect him disorder, John Merrick, known as The Ele- from a horrified mob. They find Treves’ card phant Man, takes a life journey from being in his coat pocket and contact the doctor. attraction to medical wonder Treves arranges for temporary care for Mer- to society intellectual to spiritual inspiration. rick at the Hospital. He interviews Outline: In 1884, Nurse Sandwich Dr. Treves is hired at as Merrick’s caretaker the London Hospi- but she, like many oth- tal as a new lecturer in ers nurses, is too anatomy by the admin- horrified by his appear- istrator, Carr Gomm. In ance to take the job. the next scene, Treves Bishop How, happens to see Ross however, feels it is promoting “The Ele- his Christian duty phant Man,” a freak to help Merrick by of nature. Treves views providing religious the man and pays Ross instruction. Funds in order to study his are raised to secure a anatomy for a day. permanent home for Treves delivers a lecture Merrick in the Lon- on the man, named don Hospital. Treves John Merrick, describ- invites an actress ing his deformities in named Mrs. Kendal to a clinical fashion to an visit Merrick, hoping assembly of physicians. that her acting train- After the lecture, ing will allow her to Merrick is returned to hide her repulsion. the freak show and She discusses Ro- Ross tries to pro- meo and Juliet with mote him on the continent, in . But him and finds Merrick to be an intellectual the police there stop the show for “public man capable of deep feeling. She shakes his indecency.” Ross now considers Merrick hand as she leaves; Merrick sobs because it a liability and sends him back to , is the first time a woman has touched him. alone, after pocketing most of the money Merrick begins work on a paper model of a Merrick had earned. The police escort Mer- cathedral. He receives gifts and visits from rick away as he tries to explain that he had members of high society and the royal family, been “robbed.” As Merrick’s train arrives at each of whom sees traits of themselves within 2 : A Closer Look

Merrick. During one of Mrs. Kendal’s visits, Later, Treves has troubling dreams in which Merrick explains that he has never seen a he trades places with Merrick. Treves becomes woman’s body. She matter-of-factly reveals more and more troubled, until he breaks herself, but Treves interrupts and sends her down weeping, just as Merrick finishes his away with accusations of “indecency.” Ross model of the cathedral. One afternoon, Mer- visits Merrick, hoping to engage him in more rick goes to take his nap sitting upright, as exhibition work; Merrick rejects him. Hurt usual (to prevent the weight of his head from by the loss of his friend Mrs. Kendal, Merrick choking him), but then decides to attempt to questions Treves about morality and decency. sleep lying down. He does not rise again. The Playwright – Bernard Pomerance was born in , Pomerance’s Foco Novo, Quantrill in Law- New York, in 1940. He was inspired to write rence, A Man’s Man (adaptation of Brecht’s after seeing a production of Eugene O’Neill’s play) and Melons. Many of Pomerance’s plays original production of A Long Day’s Journey take a politically-charged view of American Into Night. history. He studied at the University of Chi- The Elephant Man was performed at Lon- cago, then moved to London in the early don’s National Theatre and several times on 1970’s where he became involved with and off Broadway. The play won the Tony several small, innovative theater compa- Award for Best Play in 1979. The movie, nies. In 1972, he partnered with Director directed by , was not an adapta- Roland Rees to create the Foco Novo the- tion of the play, as many people assumed, and atre group. Pomerance successfully sued the movie studio The purpose of Foco Novo was to pro- for creative infringement. mote works by new playwrights, particular- Pomerance is a very private man, ly those by black writers. Foco Novo pre- and therefore very little is know about his per- miered The Elephant Man in 1977, as well as sonal life or childhood. The Real Merrick Pomerance’s play is based on the true story of a man time his limbs named . While many of the details in enlarged tre- the play reflect real-life events, Pomerance took some mendously, with artistic license in creating his play. the exception of his left Joseph Carey Merrick was born on August 5, arm which 1862, in the working-class neighborhood of remained nor- . Although his mother, Mary Jane, mal. At some was reported to have a physical disability of point during her own, Joseph was born without any sign childhood his of abnormality. The Merricks had two other left hip was children, a son who died of injured in a fall, in 1866, and a daughter who was born with forcing him to physical disabilities in 1867, and died in walk with a 1891. stick from that Merrick began to display symptoms point on. of his disorder around age two. He de- Merrick’s veloped a lump on his lips, followed by a Joseph Carey Merrick, c. 1889. family, includ- bony lump on his forehead. By age five, ing Merrick himself, believed his condition to his skin turned thick and lumpy and began be the result of his mother being frightened to loosen from his frame in some places. Over and knocked down by an elephant during The Elephant Man: A Closer Look 3

close look at The Elephant Man. Although Norman was concerned that Merrick’s ap- pearance might be too horrifying for even the freak show audiences, the show was moder- ately successful and Merrick was even able to save some money of his own. Because the shop was across the street from the London Hospital, several medical professionals, including Dr. , started to take an interest in Mer- rick’s condition. Treves asked for Norman’s permission to do a complete examination of Merrick. However, Merrick complained that he “felt like an animal in a cattle market” under the examination of the hospital staff. Merrick traveled around Europe with the freak show under a new manager, but was eventually abandoned in Brussels because he was deemed too horrifying. He returned pen- niless to London and the police sent him to Treves after discovering his card in Merrick’s Merrick’s deformities worsened over the entire course of his life. pocket. her pregnancy. During that time, it was a Merrick remained at the London Hospital common belief that the emotional experi- with donated support from the community ences of the mother could affect their un- at large. He and Treves became friends, al- born children. though there were many aspects of Merrick’s Despite his deformities, Merrick at- tended regular school and had a close relationship with his mother who was a devout Baptist and Sunday school teacher. Unfortunately, she died in 1873; his father remarried the next year. Merrick left school at age 13 to find work, which was common for boys during that time. But the increas- ing severity of his deformities made it more and more difficult for him to work. His fa- ther and stepmother accused him of being a fi- nancial burden and after being severely beaten by his father, he left home in 1877. The London Hospital, Whitechapel, near the turn of the last century. After several failed attempts at find- ing work, Merrick admitted himself to life that he chose not to share with the doctor. the Leicester Union Workhouse at age 17. Af- Treves eventually learned that Merrick was ter about four years, he decided that he might not intellectually impaired, as he had first be able to find work as an human novelty assumed. exhibition. He contacted a popular showman Merrick told Treves that he wished to named Sam Torr, who decided to present live in a home for the blind where he might him in a traveling show as “Half-a-Man and be able to meet a woman who could not Half-an-Elephant.” The show toured in and see his deformities. around London for a while and was finally Eventually, Treves introduced Merrick taken over by Tom Norman. Norman opened to Mrs. Leila Maturin, a young widow, who a permanent exhibition on stayed in contact with Merrick until the end in which onlookers could pay to have an up- of his life. A young actress named Madge 4 The Elephant Man: A Closer Look

Kendal also took note of Merrick’s situation dead on April 11, 1890, at the age of 27. and although she never met him, she helped The cause of death was determined to be raise funds for his care. Several members a broken neck caused by lying down in his of royalty and high society came to visit Mer- bed. Throughout his life, Merrick had found rick or sent him gifts. He took three trips to it necessary to sleep in a sitting position with the countryside to visit the estate of Lady his head resting on his knees. Louisa Knightly. One of the highlights of London Hospital kept a plaster cast of Merrick’s life was attending the Theatre Roy- Merrick’s skeleton and many of his personal al in London. effects, including the model of a church he After four years in London Hospital, built during his residence at the hospital. Merrick’s condition worsened. He was found

Context Victorian England—1837 to 1901 The Victorian Era began when to the wealth of the upper class Queen Victoria was crowned and created a class of nouveau in 1837 and lasted until her riche people whose wealth death in 1901. The era is grew by starting their own known for its strict social enterprises. The large wealth etiquette and advancements division between the upper in industry, technology and and lower classes fueled the medicine. As living standards creation of social welfare pro- improved, birth rates increased grams and fair labor laws. dramatically and people began Despite the daily struggles to live longer. The population and technological advance- of England nearly tripled from ments, the pervasive outlook 13.9 million people in 1831 to in and culture embraced 32.5 million by 1901. Romanticism and mysticism. Poor and middle-class peo- Artists, writers, musicians— ple crowded into urban areas even scientists and historians— to look for work at new indus- Queen Victoria, 1882. were interested in the mysteries trial facilities such as coal mines, textile mills of nature, the strengths of human emotion and steel production sites. Their labor added and the exotic unknown. Imperialism and Colonialism Colonialism is defined as implanting settle- During 1814-1922, England increased its ments in a distant territory. The American imperialistic efforts dramatically, resulting colonies, for example, were created by English in approximately 400 million people being and other European settlers arriving in North added to the British Empire. The English peo- America and creating homes of their own. ple justified these takeovers with their perva- While England certainly engaged in colo- sive feeling that many of the territories taken nialism during the Victorian Era, it also sought under English control were “uncivilized” and to expand its empire through imperialism, in need of moral and social improvement. which differs from colonialism in that the goal As England took control of India and is to assume power over an existing nation or the eastern coast of Africa, for example, mis- established territory. Imperialism is associated sionaries and doctors felt it was their civic with spreading ideological and social policies duty to help the “poor, unenlightened na- via governance from a central location. tives” through religious instruction and medi- The Elephant Man: A Closer Look 5 cal assistance. But, of course, England also enjoyed enor- mous financial gains from the acquisition of resources and raw materials such as cotton, rubber, copper, palm oil, dia- monds, tea and tin.

A map of the British Empire, c. 1903.

Victorian Etiquette & Fashion Upper class members of Victorian society were obsessed with social etiquette. There was a long list of do’s and don’ts that covered even the tiniest details of everyday life. Prop- er introductions needed to be made before one person could speak to another, and then it was very important to use the appropri- ate title. Young women had to be constantly chaperoned and if they were caught alone with a gentleman, they could be ostracized by the family and social circle. A young woman’s worst fear was being the subject of negative gossip! Women were expected to act grace- fully at all times. They were not encouraged to participate in any activity that might be considered rigorous or cause them to sweat. A device for fitting ladies’ shoes discreetly. For real. The fashion for women included tight corsets in front of a lady) and which coat jacket was which gave the illusion of having a very tiny appropriate for every occasion. Top hats sig- waist. But the corsets caused women to faint nified a very wealthy man, while a bowler hat and in some cases damaged internal organs. was worn by the middle or lower classes. Wealthy gentlemen were equally con- Both ladies and gentlemen dedicated a cerned with social rules and fashion. They tremendous amount of time and effort to needed to know when to tip their hat, when maintaining their social connections. Parties, they were allowed to smoke or drink (rarely dances, attending the theater, making social calls to others’ homes and being seen at the finest dressmakers were all an important part of daily living. Every person had a calling card which they’d leave behind at each event to be sure that the host knew of their attendance. Newspapers published social columns that reviewed the week’s events and cited opinions about those who attended. Sometimes these reports cast scathing judgments on a person’s clothing or behavior, causing devastating embarrassment. It’s so forking hard to get this right. 6 The Elephant Man: A Closer Look Victorian Art and Culture

The Palace of Westminster, which contains the Houses of Parliament, was rebuilt after an 1834 fire. Architect Charles Barry used the Gothic Revival style to expand the previous Westminster Abbey site.

Theater was a popular pastime for Victorian the world started to make tremendous strides people. The upper classes attended perfor- in technology, the science fiction of H. G. mances in fine theaters featuring the interna- Wells captured the public’s imagination. His tionally famous actress Sarah Bernhardt. They novels The Time Machine, The Island of also enjoyed Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The comic op- War of the Worlds and The First Men in the erettas that Moon predicted new technologies long before poked fun at their time. English soci- The Victorian era covers the artistic peri- ety, such as ods of Classicism, Romanticism, Impression- The Mikado, ism and Post-Impressionism. Classicism strove The Pirates toward accurate, objective depiction of the of Penzance world, while Romantic paintings focused on and H.M.S. the expression of emotion over reason. Im- Pinafore pressionism developed in the late 19th century by the Brit- and was characterized by the changing effects Actress Sarah Bernhardt. ish duo Sir of light and color. Post-Impressionism was William S. developed as a reaction to the limitations of Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. The lower Impressionism. Late Victorian art also in- classes attended variety shows or “vaude- cluded contributions made possible by a new villes” at dance halls, which featured popular technology—photography. songs, skits, dances, animal tricks and comedy acts. These were noisy, smoke- filled places where drunken audience members might shout, cheer and hiss at the performers. Music was central to the lives of the wealthy. Young children, especially girls, were trained to play an instru- ment, and social visits often includ- ed parlor music. All the guests would gather around the parlor piano to listen to each other play and everyone would sing popular songs together. Charles Dickens’ books, includ- ing Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities, were popular because they brought to light many issues of social Impressionist painting Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet, 1872. inequity that faced Victorian society. As You really have to see it in color, trust me. The Elephant Man: A Closer Look 7 Victorian Religion When Queen Victoria took the poor. Several new protestant the throne, the protestant sects developed out of this dis- Anglican Church became a content, including Methodists, powerful force. The Church Congregationalists, The Society ran influential universities and of Friends (Quakers) and Pres- high-ranking church mem- byterians. bers also held positions in the In 1859, Charles Darwin House of Lords. Children were published his theory of evo- expected to have a complete lution, On the Origin of Spe- education of the Bible, which cies, causing a crisis of faith was the primary reading text in throughout the world. People schools. It was widely accepted Charles Darwin. began to question the founda- that if everyone embraced the teachings of the tions of religious belief and Victorian morals. church, there would be an end to crime and There was a new emphasis on the individual’s immorality. Among members of the elite class, duty to society, in addition to one’s duty to going to church was essential to maintaining God. The combination of groundbreaking respectability. scientific discoveries and the general unease But there was strong dissent against with the role of the church in society caused the church as well. Many saw the Angli- many people to rethink their interpretation of can Church as serving only the needs of the religious texts. wealthy, while ignoring the genuine needs of Victorian Medicine There were huge turn blue, and eventually results in death. advancements in Many people believed cholera to be the result medicine during of too much sun, too much oxygen in the air, the Victorian comets or bad fruits and vegetables. But sci- Era. Thanks entists realized that contaminated water was to research by to blame, so people began to boil their water French scientist and the disease fell off sharply. Louis Pasteur and improve- ments in micro- scopes, it was discovered that Louis Pasteur. fungus and bac- teria cause infec- tion, as opposed to “bad air.” So for the first time, doctors began to boil and scrub their surgical instruments before and after each use to kill bacteria. This discovery also prompted doctors to simply clean wounds with antisep- tics, rather than immediately amputating the A Victorian surgery, c. 1896. injured limb as they had done up to that point to avoid gangrene. Common medical treatments included Cholera was one of the most feared homemade herbal remedies and poultices diseases of the Victorian Era. The disease made from household items such as bread, slows blood circulation, causing the skin to milk, herbs or horse manure. Doctors might 8 The Elephant Man: A Closer Look recommend bleeding to cure high blood pres- arrived with. Therefore, sure or purging with laxatives to expel toxins the wealthy paid for from the body. Opium, morphine and ether doctors to care for them were used to lesson pain during surgery or at home, while the hos- painful procedures such as child birth. pitals took in the poor. Despite the advancements in science, These facilities were superstitions and social views played a large often overcrowded and role in many people’s understanding of health it was difficult to find and medicine. It was a common belief that a high quality doctors person’s own spiritual or moral failing could to work there. Because cause disease or physical deformity. the conditions at many Wilhelm Röntgen’s first X-ray image: his wife’s hand, 1895. Victorian hospitals were largely viewed of these hospitals were as the places people went to die because the so horrific, several laws were passed in the spread of germs caused patients to encoun- late 1800s to ensure all patients received high ter more illness in the hospital than they had quality medical care. Life in the Workhouse Joseph Mer- monotonous food such as watery porridge, rick entered called gruel, or bread and cheese. All inmates the Leicester had to wear the rough workhouse uniform and Union Work- sleep in communal dormitories. Supervised house when baths were given once a week. The able-bodied he was sev- were given hard work such as stone-breaking enteen years or picking apart old ropes to make oakum. old because The elderly and infirm sat around in the day- his physical rooms or sick-wards with little opportunity for Leicester Union Workhouse, c. 1880. condition visitors. Parents were only allowed limited con- prevented him from maintaining a job. Work- tact with their children—perhaps for an hour a houses were established to provide shelter week on Sunday afternoon. and basic necessities to the unemployed, ill By the 1850s, the majority of those forced or elderly. People were free to enter or leave into the workhouse were not the work-shy, the workhouse whenever they wished, but the but the old, the infirm, the orphaned, unmar- conditions within the houses were so harsh ried mothers, and the physically or mentally that only those who were truly desperate ill. For the next century, the Union Work- chose to live there. house was in many localities one of the largest From http://www.workhouses.org.uk: and most significant buildings in the area, “Life inside the workhouse was intended to the largest ones accommodating more than a be as off-putting as possible. Men, women, thousand inmates. Entering its harsh regime children, the infirm and the able-bodied were and spartan conditions was considered the housed separately and given very basic and ultimate degradation.”

hitechapel urders and abdomen. People began to call the immediately washed the crime scenes, W M murderer “The Whitechapel Murderer” destroying all evidence. A series of gruesome murders in Lon- or “.” There have been Because all the victims were don’s poverty-stricken Whitechapel dis- many theories about the killer’s true prostitutes, the case called attention to trict (the same district housing Merrick’s identity, but the case remains unsolved the social problems in London’s slums. freak show and the London Hospital) to this day. Buildings were severely overcrowded, captured London’s—and the world’s— Although the crimes were committed alcoholism was rampant and criminals imagination in 1888. on well-traveled streets, the thick soot in were largely in control. In order to Between August 31st and November the air allowed the murderer to escape survive this poverty, thousands of wom- 9th, five women were found brutally down the winding alleys unseen. When en turned to prostitution rather than murdered by gashes across the throat the bodies were discovered, the police entering the workhouses. The Elephant Man: A Closer Look 9

A Victorian Timeline of Events 1843 The first Christmas cards are designed 1859 Charles Darwin publishes his theory of by artist John Callcott Horsley. evolution, On the Origin of Species. 1845 The Irish Famine begins and becomes 1859 The famous London clock tower the worst humanitarian disaster in the “Big Ben” is built. history of the UK. Ireland loses over half 1862 The (also called its population due to starvation or emi- “The Tube”) becomes the first under- gration. ground subway system in the world. 1848 Karl Marx publishes The Communist 1865 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Manifesto. Lewis Carroll is published. 1851 The Great Exhibition of 1851, the first 1870 The Elementary Education Act man- World’s Fair, and is held in the Crystal dates that Basic State Education will be Palace in London. It showcases the free for children under the age of ten. world’s first voting machine and a 1899 Sigmund Freud publishes The Interpre- precursor to today’s fax machine. tation of Dreams.

A Glossary

APOTHEOSIS the elevation of a person or idea to the GORDON AT KHARTOUM British Major-General Charles rank of a god; a climax in development George Gordon, a popular British hero; BANAL without originality, trite was appointed Governor-General of Su- BENEFICE a church appointment, as a vicar or rector, dan, but was killed in the city of Khartoum that guarantees a fixed income or property by Muslim rebels after a year-long siege CEYLON country located off the southeastern coast MORIBUND in a dying state, near death of India, now known as Sri Lanka, formerly NAVVY an unskilled manual laborer under British rule NIGER country in western Africa, once a British the CONTINENT the European mainland, as opposed to the colony British Isles OCCLUDED closed or shut DEMI-URGE in some belief systems, the deity responsi- OSSEOUS composed of, containing or resembling ble for the creation of the physical world bones; bony DEWLAP a fold of skin under the chin of some PAPIER MACHE a substance made of pulpy paper and animals such as a cow, turkey or lizard glue, used for molding or sculpting DORSET a wealthy neighborhood in London PAPILLOMATOUS -like, characterized by bumpiness associated with easy living PATHOLOGICAL caused by or involving disease; evidenc- DOSSHOUSE flophouse, cheap lodging ing a mentally disturbed condition DROPSICAL of, like or affected with dropsy PARABLE story that teaches a moral lesson DROPSY an antiquated term for edema, or swelling PERAMBULATE walk about or stroll of tissues PICCADILLY EXQUISITE fashionable elite a method of pruning trees in which they ELEPHANTIASIS a chronic condition resulting from infec- POLLARDED tion by parasites that causes obstruction of are cut back to the main branches the lymphatic vessels, leading to grossly the RACK a torture device used to stretch people swollen limbs beyond their limits SCROFULA a tuberculosis infection of the lymph F. R. S. Fellow of the Royal Society nodes in the neck region 10 The Elephant Man: A Closer Look

Joseph Carey Merrick August 5, 1862 - April 11, 1890

I built it with one hand, they “all say. I did not begin to build at first. Not till I saw what St. Phillip’s really was. It is not stone and steel and glass; it is an imitation of grace flying up and up from the mud. So I make my imitation of an imitation. But even in that is heaven to me.”

A photo of a surviving church model Merrick built. He made several, and gave them as gifts to his friends. This one is displayed at the .