[Part II in a commentary on Daphne Laureola, Part I is available here]
From our contemporary viewpoint, we often forget that it was in fact the previous century that was labeled the “Age of Anxiety”. The events of the 20th century saw the kind of technological progress which has resulted in us knowing more of what we are, but has failed to tell us who we are.
James Bridie, the doctor and dramatist sought to portray individuals deeply at odds with society in an age of disintegrating values. When we engage with Bridie’s plays we are bonded to his characters who are in the words of Ernest George Mardon, “interesting people, the good are never too good and the bad are always human”. Bridie is thus chiefly concerned with that question that has vexed us continuously and in the words of one of his characters:
“Who knows the heart of a man, and what moves in the darkness?”
His extraordinary portrayals on stage have been summarized succinctly by Mardon:
“Besides sympathizing with the rebel, Bridie does much subtle questioning of normally accepted values. He never takes anything for granted, or merely at its face value. He worries about good and evil. His probing, uneasy mind is forever attempting to get behind…