by David Malouf
Look there at the flicker of the lids, that flutter at the corner
of the lips, that flush of colour in the cheeks –
that is life. Ah, life … it is blood, Shelley.
Now the glacier in its veins has begun to shift.
It is moving out to the edge of light. It is
melting, it is melting.
Spring has come to a cold star, Shelley,
to the knot of solid ice that was its heart.
Oh the pain of it! Oh the pain of it!
This first beat of life, this steady beating
as the great engine throbs, begins to drive
the life force through it.
Oh the pain! To give birth to yourself, my dear one,
is such pain, such pain. To feel the self stirring, feeding, growing,
turning head over heel through centuries
pushing out to meet the light.
Ah, Shelley, is that you?
SHELLEY:
I am here. Yes, Mary. I am here. I too can feel
the rhythm of its separate life.
It is not, it is no longer
my story. I have a name.
I am called – Frankenstein.
MARY:
Is that what you are called?
SHELLEY:
It is what you have called me, Mary.
MARY:
It is what you have called yourself.
SHELLEY:
But this is your dream, Mary.
MARY:
No it is ours, Frankenstein.
Frankenstein – so that is what you are called.
And the other?
SHELLEY:
No name. He has no name. I have called him up out of
myself. Or you, Mary, you have dreamed
us both up out of your dreaming.
MARY:
Ah, Shelley – Frankenstein – it is beginning,
it has begun. There were two of us, now we are three.
Look there. He has cast the scales from his eyes.
Look there. He has cast the ice sheet from his heart.
And listen, Shelley, listen.
What is that sound? What is it, Shelley, Frankenstein?
SHELLEY:
I am Frankenstein, the great Prometheus, the great darer, the creator, the definer, maker and breaker of laws. I have broken the laws of life. I have made myself the creator. I have made myself a monster.
SCENE IV
The MONSTER looms up over the bed. Out of his low yelps and moans that might be heard under the last passage comes a great single cry; then the first hint, very softly, of his signature tune. Then a chaos of sound leads straight into the following scene. MARY and SHELLEY exit. The stage transforms to:
An open field near the lake of Geneva. The MONSTER, desolate, wanders about clasping his hands over his ears, his senses in chaos. Offstage, after a moment, we hear a flurry of children’s voices.
CHILDREN:
(offstage) Over the, under the –
Dai-sy!
Over, the under the –
Daisy!
(The MONSTER reacts to these sounds, raising himself and peering about, then settling back with one ear cocked. A second flurry of voices, a little closer. Through them a single voice, offstage but clear)
VOICE:
(offstage) Dai-sy!
(An echo of it is heard then other voices, other echoes. The children enter)
CHILDREN:
Daisies are the eyes of day,
Violets of the night,
Bluebell, campion. Love-in-a-mist,
God’s rainbow, made of light.
(The MONSTER is entranced. He sits watching as the children begin a singing game. After a moment he approaches the children to join in)
CHILDREN’S CHORUS:
Under the arch, over the grass,
Each with each the couples pass.
Under the arch and over the grass
And through the big gate ho-o-o …
(On the word ‘home’ the children see the MONSTER and freeze, terrified, all but one of them, a boy. WILLIAM, aged seven, who wears a blindfold. The children withdraw backwards, offstage, leaving WILLIAM alone with the MONSTER)
WILLIAM:
Under the arch, over the grass,
Each with each the couples pass.
Under the arch and over the grass
And through the big gate home.
(At ‘home’ he whips off his blindfold and finds himself facing the MONSTER, who is on his knees and holding his arms out to the boy. The child freezes. The MONSTER takes him in his arms, lifts him. The child screams. The child goes limp in his arms. The MONSTER realises he is dead. He lets out a howl, hides the child’s body, cowers, and hears the note of a solo violin playing a bit of sweet tune that is really the sound of tuning up. It is joined by the other instruments of a village band. The MONSTER is delighted by the new sounds. He turns away from the murdered child and starts towards the source of the music. A village dance tune. Several couples enter)
SCENE V
MEN’S CHORUS:
Blue eyes, red lips, black boots, black.
WOMEN’S CHORUS:
Come, come, over the stile
Into the yellow field.
Buttercup, buttercup, close your eyes,
The butter can wait awhile.
Dance me, dance me over the grass
Through the cottage door.
Close the window, lower the blind,
Dance me over the floor.
Lift me, lift me into the bed,
The stars won’t see, the moon won’t tell.
Forever begins with a kiss, a ring,
A yes and heels overhead.
MEN’S CHORUS:
Blue eyes, blue,
Red lips, red
See how my heart beats,
Come, girl, to bed.
Black boots, black,
White skirts, white,
See how my heart beats,
Forever is tonight.
Blue eyes, red lips,
Black boots, white shirt,
See how my heart beats,
Come, girl, to bed.
(The MONSTER watches, delighted, dancing to himself and wordlessly singing his own song. As one girl swings out in the dance he leaps out of the shadows and catches her. The dance breaks up, the girls scream and flee. In a brief struggle before they flee, one of the boys wounds the MONSTER. He cries out in pain and staggers away sucking a wound in his arm. He hides, and the young men immediately re-enter with pitchforks: during their song the MONSTER may howl his own tune, broken with yelps and cries)
SCENE VI
MEN’S CHORUS:
He was here, a monster, huge as a barn,
Something like you’ve never seen.
He was here, we saw him, huge as a barn,
A hideous monster
Nothing like you’ve ever seen,
Huge as a barn, but real,
A fairytale to frighten children.
He was here.
WOMEN’S CHORUS:
We saw him, hideous,
a bad dream to frighten children.
We saw him, the monster,
a creature out of a nightmare,
a tale to frighten children,
but real. Yes, real. We saw him,
a fairytale to frighten children,
and hideous, a monster.
We saw him, he was here, a monster.
(They move offstage and over the sound of their fading voices the MONSTER staggers from his hiding place, still sucking his wound. He kneels at a pool to bathe it)
MONSTER:
So what am I? Master, creator, how did I come here?
(He looks into the water. It clears and he sees himself for the first time. He shrinks back)
MONSTER:
Ah, so this is what I am! Oh
My master, my creator,
Why did you make me?
Why did you make me
like this … like this?
(Meanwhile, behind him in another part of the stage, we see the child’s MOTHER (MARY) on her knees praying. FRANKENSTEIN with her. TWO YOUNG MEN enter with ELIZABETH (CLAIRE), one of them bearing the body of the child)
YOUNG MEN:
Bear him gently, bear him home,
Bring him to his mother’s breast.
She bore him. Now again he comes.
Home to earth, his mother.
Tears, tears are vain.
MARY:
Ah, my child, my dear one!
What monster out of a nightmare
Took your breath away?
YOUNG MEN:
She bore him. Again
earth, his mother,
takes him to her breast.
FRANKENSTEIN:
What have I done? Oh, my brother!
Oh, my mother, forgive me!
(He turns to where the MONSTER is now moving off)
If you have done this thing, I will hunt you
to the limits of the earth. In the high places
And in the low I will hunt you.
This hand that gave you life
Will strike and cut you down!
ACT II
La Mer de Glace, an open space of dazzling whiteness. CLAIRE, POLIDORI and MARY are at the back of the stage and witness the following scene. SHELLEY enters as FRANKENSTEIN. MARY as narrator.
SCENE I
MARY:
So the new Prometheus, the student Frankenstein,
pursues his creation to the slopes of Mont Blanc,
that wonder of God’s great works,
and out on to the frozen Mer de Glace.
FRANKENSTEIN:
O wandering spirits, you white rivers,
take me far from the joys of life,
hide me for a thousand centuries from the eyes of men.
(The MONSTER’s music is heard and grows louder, is very loud as he stumbles in)
Ah you come here, then? Monster!
Do you not fear the vengeance of my arm upon your head?
MONSTER:
All men despise the wretched. How then must I
be hated, who above all living things am wretched?
O my creator, do you spurn me?
I am thy creature, child of your will. You made me.
We are tied by bonds not even death can break,
You and I.
FRANKENSTEIN:
Monster! Thing of darkness!
MONSTER:
Of your creating. Torn
out of your brain.
FRANKENSTEIN:
Murderer! Devil!
MONSTER:
By your permission! Let loose by you!
Ah, be calm, you loving, kind creator.
Before the gods, if they are watching here
from their high peaks in power inaccessible,
hear this. Have I not suffered enough? Remember,
you made me, I am your creature. I hoped to be
your Adam. I was all innocence, all love.
But I will be to you the fallen angel
driven from joy for no misdeed of his.
I was virtuous. Misery made me
an outcast and a fiend. Now make your creature
happy. He will again be innocent.
FRANKENSTEIN:
Stand back! You murdered
my brother, an innocent child. Now let us try
our strength and I or you will fall,
here, without witness on the Mer de Glace
and be forever locked in its icy heart.
GHOST OF WILLIAM:
(offstage) Under the arch and over the grass,
Each with each the couples pass,
Under the arch, over the grass,
And through the big gate – (Screams)
MONSTER:
Can I not move you? Will you not look just once
with favour on your creature? O, my creator,
who gave this earth to me. I am a being
with sense, with hungers. I am filled with love
for all the earth’s fair creatures, and they see only
a monster in me. O my creator,
deliver me from loneliness
and you deliver me from evil.
FRANKENSTEIN:
Cursed be the day on which you first drew breath.
Cursed be the hand that formed you, cursed be the brain
in which the thought of you sprang forth and quickened.
Deliver you?
MONSTER:
Why? Why this? Why this? God
in pity made man beautiful. Why do I feel
such longing to be loved? Why do the tears
stream from my eyes when I hear the far-off tuning
of the village band, and see the couples dancing
two by two on the grass? O my creator,
remember Adam’s prayer. You maker
of hell or paradise, now let me share
my love of all thy creatures with a mate.
Grant me my Eve!
A female made like me, of this, my kind.
We will be innocent. We’ll make our bed
in the dry leaves. The sun will shine on us
and ripen our food, and we will feed on berries
in the deep woods. We shall be two alone
but one together. Hear this, my master,
by these high peaks that soar, by all the fire
that burns by night and day, deny me this
and I will hunt you down through centuries
of icy worlds to the far wastes. Deny me
this and I will haunt your bed to the last breath
you draw. Deny me this
and I will be with you at your marriage feast.
FRANKENSTEIN:
O stars, O icy peaks, you mock me
with your bland stare. If you pity me, strike
my sense, my memory. Let me be stone
and never wake – Mary, where am I? Ah – la Mer
… La Mer de Glace! Where are you, Mary?
MARY:
(spoken) Here, Shelley, here.
(The walls of the Villa Diodati descend. We are back in its main room again)
It is just a story. Look, we are here. You’re safe. It’s over for tonight.
SHELLEY:
(spoken) Is that true?
Polidori, is it true? Is it? Polidori? Polidori?
(Under covering music the walls of the Villa Diodati rise and we are in a field by the lake.
Enter WOMEN’S CHORUS dressed for a wedding)
SCENE II
WOMEN’S CHORUS:
June, the month of summer’s fullness,
Ripe the wheat and bright the flower,
Bride and harvest time, come to us,
Bearing promise holding power
Of all that earth in pain or glory
Proffers in this holy hour.
(They parade round the stage, at last come upon CLAIRE, who at first shrinks back, but MARY beckons, and then takes her hand and leads her forward. As if sleepwalking, CLAIRE is taken by the girls to be dressed as FRANKENSTEIN’s bride)
WOMEN’S CHORUS:
Deck her hair with daisy, violet,
Bluebell, campion, love-in-a-mist,
Time’s lady, bride of earth. Now trumpet,
Shrill! Strike, drum, and groom and guest,
And all the tall sons of the house, come out.
The wedding, then the feast.
(The MEN’S CHORUS enter, bringing FRANKENSTEIN dressed as a bridegroom)
MEN’S CHORUS:
The bridegroom comes, up staves, up cups,
Harroo, harroo and follow the hare!
Here’s groom and guest and book and feast.
Drink, boys. Take your share.
(As FRANKENSTEIN is about to step forward to claim his bride, the MONSTER appears)
MONSTER:
Frankenstein, I come to your wedding as promised.
>
Why do I walk alone in paradise?
Where is my Eve? Where is my bride? Devil!
FRANKENSTEIN:
Devil, do you dare pollute the air here at my wedding feast?
CHORUS:
A creature out of a nightmare, but real, real,
A monster out of a nursery tale to frighten children,
A bogeyman, huge as a barn but real, real.
MONSTER:
Devil, do you dare to break this bond?
Where, where is my bride?
CLAIRE/ELIZABETH:
Who calls the poor sleepwalker, Lenore, Elizabeth?
FRANKENSTEIN:
Cursed be the day on which you first drew breath!
Cursed be the hand that formed you!
MONSTER:
You broke your promise. You dared to break your bond.
CLAIRE:
Who calls? Who calls? Who has come for her?
Who calls at the gate and breaks her dream? The groom,
is it? My secret lover? No, no.
I will never be a bride. Never. Never.
Claire Clairmont. I shall live
alone. Alone through all eternity.
FRANKENSTEIN:
Cursed be the brain in which the thought of you
sprang forth and quickened. Cursed
be the day, cursed the hand
that formed you! Elizabeth, my dear one, sister,
wife – must I also be
alone? Alone through all eternity?
MONSTER:
Where is my bride? Where is my Eve?
You made me, and you made for me this lonely hell.
You broke your promise. I keep mine.
Shall each man find a wife to share his days,
each beast a mate, and I only be
alone? Alone through all eternity?
CHORUS:
The bride. The bride. The bride!
(CLAIRE/ELIZABETH moves in a trance towards the MONSTER. FRANKENSTEIN reaches out for her. As the MONSTER clasps her, she faints)
MARY:
Lights, quick, Polidori, Claire has fainted.
CLAIRE:
Shelley, where am I? Shelley! Mary!
SHELLEY:
Claire, I am here, you’re safe now. Nothing has happened.
(POLIDORI has rushed forward and kneels to examine CLAIRE. He looks up at BYRON)
POLIDORI:
This girl is carrying your child, sir.
BYRON:
Indeed, sir. And am I the father? What tells you that? Your diary?
(Under covering music, all exit except CLAIRE)
SCENE III
CLAIRE:
Shelley! Shelley! Why is he taking so long?
(SHELLEY enters)
Well, what does he say? What does milord,