Lanie Robertson

THE INSANITY
OF MARY GIRARD
 Lanie Robertson

When The Insanity of Mary Girard was presented in Philadel-

phia in 1976, it was hailed in the Inquirer as".
a spellbind-
.

ing and finely crafted play that deals boldly with the questions
of insanity and women's rights. Set in the basement ward for
the insane in Pennsylvania Hospital in 1790, it explores the
psychic landscapes of Mary Girard, wife of the financial
wizard, Stephen Girardt who committed her an asylum
to
(which was a husband's legal right at the time) but committed
her knowing that she was pregnant. Out of historical fact,
Robertson has created a sinister and intelligent encounter and
a compelling piece of experimental theatre."
The reviewer for the Philadelphia Daily News was equally
impressed: "Bravos go to the Theatre Center of Philadelphia
for coming on strong with a finely sculptured, frighteningly
provocative piece of total environment, theatre of cruelty'
drama."
In response to a request for biographical data, Mr.
Robertson wrote to this editor: was born in Knoxville, Iowa,
in 1940 and raised in southern and southwestern states,
spending much of my youth traveling cross-country with my
parents as my father's work was pipeline construction. I at-
tended fourteen schools in twelve states before graduating
from high school Later, I attended the University of Kansas,
the University of London, and received a Ph.D. in English
from Temple University in 1974.
"Although I have lived longest in Philadelphia, where I
currently reside, [ feel that Texas is my ancestral home as my
grandparents either lived there or came from there, as did my
parents. My spiritual home is the theatre: I am an actor and I
have written approximately eighteen plays."
The author's most recent drama, Back County Crimes, was
presented at the Williamstown (Massachusetts) Theatre Festi-
val during the summer Of 1977 and later, in the autumn, at
Playwrights Hor'izons in New York City.
The Insanity of Mary Girard appears in print for the first time
in The Best Short Plays 1978.
Characters:
MARY GIRARD, a very attractive woman twenty-nine years
THE FURIES, three women, two men of any age
'THE WARDER, a man of middle age
MRS. Mary's mother
STEPHEN GIRARD, Mary's husband, ten years her senior
MR. PHILLIPS, a steward of Pennsylvania Hospital and a man in
his foHies
POLLY KENTON, a young woman
MRS. HATCHER, a woman approxima!ely Mary's own age

CHORUS: The FURIES should be Prejented in the following way

FURY #1 should play the role of THE WARDER
FURY #2 .shoutd play the role of MRS. LUM
FURY #3 should play the role of POLLY KENTON
FURY #4 should play the role of MR. PHILIPS
FURY #5 should play the role of MRS. HATCHER
FURY should lhink of himself as a "regres!ed child"
FURY #2 should have "delusions of grandeur*'
FURY #3 should be an "obsessive/compulsive"
FURY #4 should be "active/passive," usually in a catatonic state
FURY #5 should be an "hysteric"

The segrnents of lines should be almost equally divided among

FURIES 1, 2, 3, and 5. FURY #4 should say much less bul always
the "Dr. Rush" references. FURY #5 should deliver most of the
"God" and "Jesus" words, etc.

Time:
A Saturday night in the Fall of 1790.

Place:

A lunatic cell in. the basement of the Pennsylvania Hospital in

Philadelt.hia.
 The of MO, Girard 67

NOTE: Although the events presented in this play are based

on fact, there has been no attempt to accurately portray the
personalities those responsible for the incarceration of Mrs.
Stephen Girard.

A1 rise the stage is bare exceptfor Mary Girtrd Who is segted, bound
in the Tranquilizing Chair. This was a device used for "excitable
Patients" who were insane or believed to be. There are leather straps
to bind down the wrists, the anns, the chest ttnd thighs, iron rings to
go about the ankles, and a square box that suings down over the
head. As the lights gradually come up. snera{figures enter from
different directions. These are the Funes. They circle about the
chair. One of them lifts the box and we see Mary's facefor lhefrst
lime.

Mary Girard is a very attractive woman, twenty-nine years old.

Her eyes and hair are dark. She seems a!firs/ asleep or in a coma.
Then she becomes very agitated and strains against her bonds.

FURIES: (Tauntingly) Mary. Mary Girard. Polly. Polly-Mary.

Girard.
MARY: (Screams) Who are you? Stay away from me! No!
Let me out of here. Do you hear me? Set me free at once!
FURIES: Oh, she To be set. Free. At once. Oh, no.
We mustn't. Do that.
MARY: Set me free, you!
I tell Who are you? How dare you
laugh at me! How dare you!
FURIES: Oh. She's so. Indig. Nant. Quite the fine lady.
Isn't she? No one would think. Her husband was. Well-to-do.
Would they, Mary?
MARY: What do you want of me? Did you come here to
torment me?
FURIES: We want nothing, Mary. Only to comfort you. To
aid you: Be with you in time Of travail. Do whatever we can.
Or may. Or might.
MARY: Then for God's sake set me free! If I stay in this

chair any longer I shall go mad.

68 LANIE ROBERTSON
FURIES: Oh, say that and. We'll never let you out. Dr.
Rush's chair is always successful. Such a good doctor! Dr.
Rushl
MARY; Please set me free. Please!
FURIES: Does she promise? TO behave? NVou1d she try? TO
run? Away?
MARY: No. promise I won't run away. I won't.
I
FURIES: Besides. She has no place To run. Except into the
wall. Which we can do, but not her. Not you, Mary. Not you.
MARY: Who are you? What are you? Tell me.
FURIES: We're no one. Nothing. Inmates of the asylum.
Like you, Mary. Figments of your imagination. Air. Less than.
Smoke. A puff. A poof. Of nothing. Nothing, nothing.
Nothing.
(The Furies set Maryfree)
MARY: If you are nothing, then I must be mad. I can see
hear you.
(Mary grabs al them but they elude her)
FURIES: No, you mustn't touch us. For then we would have
to. Tear you apart. We don't exist. We are ghostsv Your
friends. Selvesof yourself. Friends and angels. We know noth-
ing. Except everything. You know. Or want. To know.
MARY: You know everything want to know?
FURIES: Certainly. Assuredly. Definitely.
MARY: Then tell me. Tell me everything I want to know.
FURIES: What do you? Want to know, Mary?
MARY: Tell me where I am? And how long I've been here.
FURIES: (Disappointed) That's too simple. It's no fum You
know that already The Penn. Sylvania. Hospital. The same.
As it was. This morning.
MARY: This morning? How long have I been here?
FURIES: It's the same day. As it was before.
MARY: I been here only a matter of hours. It's
can't have
not possible! Oh, being in that chair is horrible. Horrible!
FURIES: Of course, it's horrible. It's supposed. To be.
That's what you. Get for. Being crazy. Crazy Mary Girard.
MARY: But I'm not crazy. You know I'm not.
FURIES: You must had you admitted. As a
be! Mr. Girard
lunatic, paying patient. The doctors have agreed. To keep you
 The Insanity of Mary Girard 69

here. As long as Xlr. Girard. Continues to pay. Your bills. And

quite a lucrative account. You'll prove to be. For a lunatic,
Mary.
MARY: (Furies laugh at her frustration through this) It's all a
misunderstanding. When I see the doctors, when speak to
iMr. Girard, it will all be corrected. It's a mistake, I tell you.
And that chair. I thought I'd go mad.
FURIES: She will. In time. She sounds positively. Stark rav-
ing. Mad. That chair is one of the. Prized possessions. And
inventions of. Dr. Rush. He positively. Loves it. And. So do
we.
MARY: I couldn't move. I couldn't see anything. No sooner
was I strapped into it than I began to itch.
FURIES: Only nerves. Or madness.
MARY: I couldn't even scratch my arm. And then my eyes
began to tear and I couldn't wipe them. And there was such a
roaring in my ears. I thought I would go that it would
drive me .

FURIES: Yes? Go. on. Don't stop. We want. To hear. Every-

thing.
MARY: All sounds were strange, distant, as though I were
under water, drowned without being dead, and it seemed so
terribly hard to breathe. Later I fell asleep and had such
dreams that I woke up screaming. Then I thought I was being
smothered, coldly, carefully smothered with an enormous pil-
low that kept getting larger and larger. First it seemed the size
of that box, but then it was as large as the room. Then it grew
to the size of the entire hospital. And I knew that it would
continue growing. Smothering not only me but everyone. T he
size of the city. And then the state. And then the size Of the
entire United States. And I awoke screaming.
FURIES: And you see. No one was. Smothering you at all.
You were only here. Experiencing the effects. Of the
Tranquilizing Chair.
MARY; And the echo in the box OF my own screams
was Oh, why would they put me
horrible! in such a thing?
Surely they know I'm not mad.
FURIES: But it's the. Proper treatment. For your type. Of
madness. Everybody knows. There are two kinds of. Madness.
70 LANIE ROBERTSON
The Torpid. And those subject Dr. Rush. Has
Co. Excitation.
invented. Two appliances, To be used for. The treatment of.
The mad. The gyrator. Or revolving machine. That shakes
them up, The other is. The Tranquilizing Chain For types
like you. Ones subject tow Excitation. Or claims Sanity.
MARY: I feel weak, faint.
FURIES': It's only natural. After the. Bloodletting.
MARY: Bloodletting?
FURIES: It's quite regular. Quite customary. Mary. Quite

natural. It lessens greatly. Your protestations. Of sanity. From

you they took, Thirty ounces. Of blood.
MARY; qtVas that the itching af my arm?
FURIES: Yes, you see. You didn't feel. A thing. You see how
well. The chair works. Now, Mary?
MARY: must get out of here. I must. I catit have
Aht I

been here for only one day. It isn't possible.

FURIES: Less. It's only now. Near midnight. Soon it will be
Sunday. You'll be able to hear. The bells. From all the
churches. Stephen Girard will be in his usual pew. Mary. Pray-
ing for your soul. No doubt.
MARY: I must see himt talk with him. I'll ask him to forgive
me or to let me pass away to some other place, pass out of his
life as though we'd never met.

FURIES: The idea! Did you ever? Hear of such a thing?

Horrid. Shocking. Disgraceful. A dreadful idea. For a mar-
ried woman. To have. Leave her husband? She must be. Mad.
MARY: If you know anything about me you know that my
marriage was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Until
this.

FURIES: The hussy! I must say. I'm shocked. And this

from. A woman legally bound. To a husband for thirteen
years. She sounds like. A woman of. The streets. A common
whore. A bawdy house tart. A ten-penny slut.
MARY: (Furioui) How dare you speak to me like that. I'm
Mrs. Stephen Girard! I don't have to tolerate your taunts and
jeers. Get out. Get away from me and get out!
FURIES: (Afraid of being sent out) Oh, no, don't, Mary. Don't
send us off. Or shut us out. Were only trying. To help you.
 The Insanity cJMary Girard 71

Mary. To put mildly. What you're bound to hear. Tomorrow.

Only then it So very much. \Vorse.
be.
MARY: No one would dare talk to me in such a manner!
FURIES: They willv Mary. And worse. Much worse, Mary.
The ones on the streets. The ones at those windows. The ones
who come daily. To stare and point. And laugh at the lunatics.
To mock them. Try to frighten them into fits. Or convulsions.
Or seizures. Of the most horrid kinds.And it works beauti-
fully,Mary. You'll be surprised how often. And haw violently
the seizures come.
MARY: I don't believe you. I don*t believe there are people
like that, people who do things like that. It's cruell .

People aren't like that. I'm sure they're not.

FURIES: (Laughing) She has so much. To learn. You
mustn't undervalue the power of an accusing finger. The
amusement people derive from the suffering of others. The
superiority they feel when they see those less fortunate. They
relish Revel in it. Rejoice for it.
it.

MARY: It mustn't be allowed. I'll speak to someone about

it!

FURIES'. Speak to someonel Mustn't be allowed!

(In glee)
Glorious! Wonderful. Mary, can't you see how large? The
windows were made? So the people wouldn't have to stoop?
To see in?
MARY: They'll not 100k at me. Not here. I couldn't stand it.
I'll be gone before they come. And if I'm not I'll hide from

them. Under the covers of the bed or under the bed if neces-
sary. I won't have them laughing at me. I couldn't stand it, I

tell you.
FURIES: No! Poor Mary. If you hide. It'llSo make matters.
much worse. The attendants will pull you out. Chain you
there where the manacles are. Facing the windows* No, Mary.
It's much better. If you don't hide.

MARY: You said you know all I want to know. Then tell me
how to get out of here. Please. Please!
FURIES: We can only. Show you. Yes, show you. You have
to start. At the beginning. By seeing. The Warder Of. The
cells.
72 LANIE ROBERTSON
MARY: But I saw him morning. He won't help me.
this
FURIES: You have to. See him for. He's the beginning. And
if you are to. Know the end. You have to begin at the. Start.
(Furies place a short cape on Mary's sh9ulders, a tycuff on her
hands, and a hat on her head. Warder eiders. He is a youjtg man
about Mary's age)
WARDER: Here ye go. This way. In heret Mary. That's yer
name, ain't it?
MARY.' My name is Mrs. Stephen Girard. You will call me
by that name if you address me again.
WARDER: Oh, no, I don't. I calls ye Mary I have it on
strictest orders not to call ye any such false name as that.
MARY: I am Mrs. Girard. There is nothing false about that.
WARDER: Oh, well, ye'll be right at home. We got the
Queen of France an' the King of Poland in here, too. Call
yerselfwhatever ye will. It'll cut no ice with me. I calls ye Mary
because I was told by Mr. Girard hisself I was to so call ye.
MARY: But you know who I am. You came to my home in
your carriage to bring me to see the doctor. You know I'm
Mrs. Girard.
WARDER: I wentMr. Girard's home. Not yers. All
to I
know is yer Mary. More than that I don't want to know.
MARY: But I'm his wife, Mary Girard.
WARDER: I'm tellin' ye true. It's Mary ye be and Mary ye'll
remain as far as I'm concerned. Unless ye take to bein' the
Queen ofSheba or somebody else. Then I'll be callin' ye that.
MARY: (Handing him some money) Look, I have some
money .

WARDER: (Taking it) Oh, ye'll be glad ye give this to me. I'll
see ye get some real food some of the time. Somethin' to keep
up yer strength instead of this gruel all the time. Maybe a pint
'asomething' warmin' on occasion, huh?
MARY: You don't understand. I came to see the doctor,
and you're to take me back to my home at once.
WARDER: Home? This room's yer home now, Mary. It's
cheery, too, in daylight. That is, if ye'll be able to see much

daylight fer all thg admirers ye'll be entertainin* in them vin-

ders up there.
 The Insanity of Mary Girard 73
MARY: What admirers?
WARDER: Tomorrow's Sabbath. Lots of folks'll be out an'
in a holiday mood. You'll see fer yerself then, I figure.
MARY: I won't be here tomorrow. I came to see the doctor
about a .a personal condition. Where is he, sir?
.
.

WARDER: Me name's Frankie. Ye be good to Frankie, an'

Frankie'll be good to yet too, Mary.
(Pause)
MARY: I demand that you take me to the doctor at once!
WARDER: Snooty, ain't ye? Wants to see the doctor at once,
do she? Well, doctors don't come round at once. They're due
sometime week after next. I guess ye'll wait till then, all right.
I'll just take yer hat an' cap an' muf so's ye can get to feelin'

right at home, Mary.

MARY: Stay away from me!
WARDER: If that's the way ye want it. (Calls) Aides here!
(Furies enter and snatch Mary's cape, muffand hatfrom her)
MARY: No, stop! Please! You mustn't do this.
(Furies exit)
WARDER: Oh, things will be worse by a yard if ye act like
that too frequent.
MARY: Do you have any idea who my husband is?
WARDER: Yep. I know who ye claims he be.
MARY: He's the wealthiest man in the City of Philadelphia.
WARDER: Wouldn't serprize me a notch.
MARY: Possibly the wealthiest in all the Republic.
WARDER: Yepe That, too.
(Pause)
MARY: (Speaking rapidly) If you keep me here against my
will, you will be making a terrible mistake. He might sue this
hospital, its board of directors, you and everyone connected
with it.

WARDER: Nope. Don't think so. Seems I know more 'bout

yer Mr. Girard than ye do, Mary.
MARY: I doubt that anyone in your position would know
anything at all about the likes of Mr. Girard. But your
superiors will.
WARDER: All I know is that it was Mr. Girard hissclf who
74 LANIE ROBERTSON
said yer lunatick an' asked most kindly that ye be put here.
That's all I

MARY: That's a lie! How dare you impugn my husband's

name with such a lie!
WARDER: Some says ye done some Of that impugnin' yer-
self, Mary Girard.
MARY: (Stiking at him) How dare you!
(Warder ducks her blow and slips out G/ the cell. II? closes the door)

MARY: What are you doing?

WARDER: Lockin' the door to yer new home. It's custom-
ary.
MARY: You can't keep Where am I?
me here. You cannot,
Is this a prison? What authority do you have to do this? I want
to go home. Please. Don't do this to me! Please! Please!
WARDER: I'm only doin' what I gets paid for doin'. It's my
job. I only takes orders from 'em what's higher up, Mary.
MARY'. But surely you can see this is wrong.
WARDER: There yer wrong, Mary. I'm not paid to see what's
right or wrong. It's not my business. My business is lockin' ye
up. The rest is not my
MARY: You will drive me mad.
WARDER.- It's not my business. My business is lockin' ye
up. The rest is not my business,
MARY; You will drive me mad!
WARDER.• It's not my business. My business is lockin' ye up.
The rest is not my business.
MARY; Answer me! Is this a prison?
WARDER: That's real insultin% that is. This is the Pennsyl-
vania Hospital. Founded by N(r. Franklin hisself, for treat-
ment of sick poor folks. Lucky fer him he died this year,
otherwise he might be highly offended by the way yer talkin'
'bout his fine hospital. An' ye are in the ward fer the mentally
deranged. The place fer lunaticks, in plain speech.
MARY: But I'm not a lunatic.
WARDER: That's not fer ye or me to say. That's fer
Girard to say. He be yer legal guardian an' he's the one who
put ye here.
MARY; Stop saying that! I won't permit you to lie about
 The Inyamty of Moy Girard 75

him that way. He he would never do do anything

. . .

I don't believe you .but even if he did, he hasn't the

authority. He's no doctor. He's not medically qualified to pro-
nounce me either sane or insane.
WARDER: He's yer husband, ain't he? This Stephen
Girard?
MARY: Yes.
WARDER: Well then, thar ye be. He don't got to be no
doctor. All he gotta be is yer husband. That makes him yer
legal guardian an' by law whenever a legal guardian says the
one they's guardian over is lunatick then we picks 'em up and
puts 'em here. We got lots of women folks here whose
helpmates has writ out a little letter saying' they's lunatick.
You'll see 'enl. They's crazy, too. Seems ta happen more to
women folks 'count of the delicacy Df thar minds.
MARY: Look at me. sir. You can tell I am not. like those
others.
'WARDER: Oh, lots of crazy folks looks jus' fine when they
come in here. I jus' give you 'bout a month. I bet I won't be
able to tell you from any of those others. Wait an' see if I can.
MARY: For God's sake, sir, look at me! Do I appear to be
without my reason?
'WARDER: Have ye not heard the vive's tale, niverjudge a
book by its cover?
MARY: But I tell you I'm sane.
WARDER: Yep. That's what most of •em thinks, too.
MARY: Listen to me. Even though Mr. Girard is my legal
guardian, surely someone, someone must make Out some
legal document declaring me insane. Isn't that true?
WARDER: Right as rain.
MARY: Well, this has to be a dreadful mistake because no
one has examined me. My husband said I was to come with
you to see a doctor.
'WARDER: Yepe That's what we tell most of 'erne "Jest going
to the hospital to see the doctor." Works nearly every time.
Sometimes tell 'em they're goin• to see the dentist. Jest for
variety's sake. An' I got the legal an' bindin' written document
from Mr. Shepherdi hisself, one of the managers of the whole
76 LANIE ROBERTSON

hospital. He's got a little letter from Mri Girard sayin' straight
out that ye, his wife, Mary Girard, is lunatick an' requestin'
that ye be held here fer treatment rer the rest of yer natural
life. Lest a course ye be cured.
MARY: For God's sake don't jest with me, sir!

WARDER: Oh, no, it's no jest. (He closes the lock) Ye can be
sure the locks here are the finest and the realest locks ye'll

ever see. Also, yer companions. They're the genuine thing.

Out an' out lunyticks, ever last one. I'll jest get the good Dr.
Rush's Tranquilizin' Chair fer ye. I think yer sorta subject to
excitations. Ye'll feel better then. See if ye don't. (He exits)
(The Furies enter)
FURIES: Don't be. Upset. Mary. Mary. That one's past. You
can forget. All about that one, Xlary.
MARY: I have Lo get out of here. I have to see someone, talk
with s01neone. When will they let me see someone?
FURIES: But we can let you. See anyone. You choose. Just
tellus who it is. Name the name. And instantly yctfll see
them.
MARY: you truly or am only imagining this?
Will
FURIES: does it. Matter, IMary? Give us the names.
MARY: I want to see my tnothert
FVRIESI Her mother! Oh, how funny! Little Mary wants to
see her mother!
MARY: Yes. Let me see her. Please
(Furies exit. Mrs. Lum enters)
MRS. LUM: Madann, you sent for me?
MARY: Mother? Mother, you've come to me?
MRS. Rise, Madam. Of course I would come at the
bidding of Mrs. Girard. I could hardly do otherwise, coulcl I?
Althoucrh I cannot pretend to understand why you wanted
me here.
MARY: •Oh. I need you, mother.
MRS. LU&t: Need Ines Madam? Younever needed me very
mu ch, and now Ihn sure you need nie not at all. You mustn't
speak extravagantly. Su rely there is nothing I can do for you
that you haven't Ilie wherewithal to do tiluch better than I.

MARY: It money that I need frotn you.

 The Insanity of Mao Girard 77

MRS. LUM: I should think not.

MARY: It is comfort that I need of you, now
MRS. LUM: Comfort? You live in the very heart of comfort,
Madam. Never have I seen a house this fine, furnishings this
rich. The shine on these floors makes me afraid to take a step,
lest they prove to be glass and crack underfoot. Everything
here shines like lights from a great tower. You must be quite
happy here.
MARY: What are you saying? This not my house. This is
is

a cell for lunatics in the cellar of the great hospital. Do not

mock me, Madam! Surely you see it is cold and damp and
horrid here.
MRS. LUM: I when you married above your
see only that
station it brought you great rewards. I see also why you did
not want your family coming here, traipsing the dirt from
workmen's feet across the polish of your fine wood floors.
MARY: My family was not welcome here. Neither were my
friends. And now I myself am not. I told you whenever I
visited you what things were like for me. You must have be-
lieved me, didn't you?
MRS. LUM: A poor excuse beats none, they say.
MARY: You didn't believe me. You never did, did you! You
thought I didn't want you here because I was ashamed of you,
MRS. LV.M: Something like that, yes. It's all right. We un-
derstood. We knew that it would happen. Happens all the
time. It's all right. It's to be expected.
MARY: But it wasn't me at all. It was Mr. Girard. He didnit
want you here.
MRS. LVM: That's all right, too. Why should he? We wasn't
kin to him, and I won't listen to you berate Mr. Girard. He was
a prince to your father. An absolute prince. Kept him work-
ing on his ships as long as your father was alive. I'll not listen
to any bad words about Mr. Girard.
MARY: Mother, my husband abuses me.
MRS. LUM: For shame that you should give him cause. And
double shame that you be brazen enough to tell it. You should
have learned by now that there is nothing unusual in a hus-
band's abusing his wife. It is the woman's place to be clever
78 LANIE ROBERTSON
enough to seem to do whether she do Or no. If you
his will
have been married this longish time, Madam, and still not
learned that, I do not doubt that you have made a sorry time
for yourself and for poor Mr. Girard as well.
MARY: And must the wife always bend to her husband's
will, whether it be right Or wrong?
MRS. L.UM: Most assuredly, for it is the husband's place to
rule his wife. The woman's to obey her husband.
MARY: And why must it be so?
MRS. LUMI Because it is the Law.
MARY: Whose Law?
MRS. LUM: God's Law. When you married you vowed to
honor and obey your husband, Madam, still death do you
part. Do you dare question the Law of God Himself?
MARY: If it is unjust .

MRS. LU.M: [t is not possible for God's Law to be unjust.

MARY: If this is God's Law, as you say it is, why didn't you
explain this Law to me before I married Mr. Girard?
MRS. LUM: 'You were a woman, Madam.
MARY". I was sixteen years old. I was a girl.

MRS. LUMI It was your wish to marry.

MARY: It was Ylr. Girard's wish to marry me.
MRS. LUM: You were not so innocent as that, Madam. Your
marriage was a financial transaction. Your father and I .

You knew that Mr. Girard had money and that you would
never have to work another day in your life if you married
him.
MARY: Then why did you speak to me about love and
home?
MRS. LUM: Because I knew it would be easier for you if you
loved him.
MARY: But you know I didn't. I was a servant. I wanted a
home of my own.
MRS. LUM: You knew what you were doing. You got the
home you wanted and much more. The shine of this house
blinds the eye.
MARY: Look about you. Nothing you see here is mine. I

have nothing, Madam, nothing.

MRS. LUM: Then you can Only blame yourself. A t,sise
 The lusaj!ity of Mary Girard 79

woman never lets her husband know the distaste she may feel
for him, You should have dissembled more and hidden what.
ever loathing you may have felt behind a display of feigned
affection.
MARY: would have been a liar.
I

MRS. LUNT: You would have fared better.

(Pause)
MARY: I asked you here because I have desperate news.
(Pause) I am with child.
MRS. LUM: Polly! This is wonderful!
MARY: No
MRS. Nothing in all the world can do more to please
1.1-1M:

a childless man. Mr. Girard must be overjoyed.

MARY: Nov
MRS. LUSC You mean he ,is not?
MARY: I haven't told him.
MRS. LUNC But you must, at once.
MARY: I cannot.
MRS. LUM: What do you mean you cannot?
MARY: I fear for my safety, mother. I fear What he might
do to me.
MRS. Do to you?
MARY'. It is not Mr. Girard's child.
MRS. LUM: Poily! No!
MARV: I have informed Mr. Girard that I intend to leave
his house. I want to come home again. I Can bring you no-
thing but my gratitude and a still fond regard for you.
MRS. LUM: I cannot help you, Madam. It would have been
well for you to have had his chi!d.
MARY: Don't you think I tried to have a child by him?
MRS. LtJM: All I know is that you have stupidly jeopardized
not only your own welfare but. . but everything else as . .

well. If Mr. Girard repudiates you, so must If Mr. Girard

repudiates you, so must I.
(Mrso Lum exits)
MARY: No: Don't leave me! Don't leave! (To Furies) She
didn't even sec me here. She thought that I was still mistress
of my house. But I wasn't.
FURIES'. You never. Were. YVere you, Mary?
80 LANIE ROBERTSON
MARY:What? Leave me alone. You cheated me. I want to
see my mother here.
FURIES: Do you think? Do you imagine? Do you suppose?
That it would make. The slightest bit. Of difference?
MARY; Yes. Yes, would. I know it. When she sees me
it

here, sees what they have done to me.

FURIES: But she. Won't! Mary. She won't. Why should.
She? She'll get. From Mr. Girard. The liule help. She's always.
Wanted. She'll not come. Here. Again.
MARY: You're lying to me. Lying!
FURIES: We? You're doing it. To yourself. We want you to
see. How things are. With you. How things are. Are. Are.
With you.
(Lights up on Mr. Phillips and Stephen Girard)
MR. GIRARD: "How things are with her." What do you
mean by that?
MR. PHILLIPs: Dr. Rush asked that I speak to you person-
ally, Mr. Girard, to make known to you certain surprising
developments that have only now come to our attention re-
garding the state or condition of your wife, sir.
MR. GIRARD: I do not know, sir, if you value your time, but
I do mine. Please be brief.

MR. PHILLIPS.t I will try. May sit, sir?

MR. GIRARD: Bymeans, sit or do whatever you wish,
all
only let us get this bothersome business settled. If there is
some question as to the adequacy of the monthly payment of
her expenses I shall naturally increase the allotment to what-
ever sum is necessary, although I will remind you that both
you and Dr. Hutchinson assured me the amount settled on
was more than sufficient.
MR. PHILLIPS: Oh, no, Mr. Girard. Let me assure you that
it is not a question of costs. The generosity of your settlement

is well-known by all concerned in this matter. No, the hospital

could not wish for a more beneficial arrangement. NO, sir, it is

not a financial matter that brings me here but rather one
concerning your wife's mental and . physical condition.

MR. GIRARD: As I am quite familiar with the one and not at

all interested in the other. I doubt that anything you have to
 The Insanity of Mary Girurd 81

tellme could be of the least interest to me. Nonetheless, as she

yet remains my wi fe, and as you have taken it upon yourself to
interrupt my affairs with this matter, I am willing to listen to
you, only briefly.
MR. PHILLIFS: I have rather surprising news for Y'0u and
for all Of us at the hospital. Mrs. Girard is 'with child.
MR. GIRARD: Yes.
MR. PHILLIPS: Do you mean, sir, you have been cognizant
of that fact?
MR. GIRARD: I have.
MR. PHILLIPS: And were you so aware when you had her
brought to us?
MR. GIRARD: Yes, sir, was.
MR. PHILLIPS.• And yet you brought her to us to be con-
fined with the mentally insane?
MR. GIRARD: Most certainly. I find it curious that I need
point out to you that physical conditions have nothing what-
soever to do the state of one's mind. I brought my wife to
you because she is insane. That has nothing to do with what-
ever physical condition she may be in.
MR. PHILLIPS: Mr. Girard, I am happy to tell you that is
not always the case. Although it is true that the mind func-
tions separately from the body which supports it, there is one
major exception to that general rule.
MR. GIRARD: And what is that?
MR. PHILLIPS: The state of pregnancy. It is not uncommon
for a woman with child to exhibit many of the signs we ordi-
narily ascribe only to the insane. You see, many of the ir-
regularities you spoke of are due to nothing
quite possibly
more than the naturally flighty state of mind brought on in
many women by the physical changes in the female body d ur-
ing the pre-natal period. When a woman is with child she is

wont to have imaginings, to suffer strange cravings, certain

outbursts of temper and language that one does not expect.
In other words, her behavior may become erratic in a fashion
that is often alarming to those who are used to a more sedate
and stately behavior On the part of the lady, Consequently,
under these circumstances, the board or directors and I agree
82 LANIE ROBERTSON
that it is you to remove Mrs.
in everyone's best interest for
Girard from Our care, allow her the confinement usually rece
ommended for the later stages of a pregnancy, and, after her
deliverance of your child, she will most probably prove to be
as sane as she ever was. What I am trying to tell you, sir, is the
happy news that Girard is quite possibly, even probably»
as sane as you or I.
(Pause)
MR. GIRARD: My wife, sir, is insane,
MR. PHILLIPS: Mr. Girard .

MR. GIRARD: (Interrupling) I said* she is insane,

(Slight Pause)
MR. PHILLIPS.• Your wife suffers from severe headaches.
She is extremely nervous. Upon
cccasion she has exhibited
erratic behavior, and outbursts of abusive language. If she
were not pregnant, there might be cause to think an extended
rest, close care, and quiet might not 'be enough to restore her
normal faculties. However, as she is with child .

MR. GIRARD: That is a fact I wish you and the members of

the board to disregard. Whether she is, as you say, with child
or not need be no concern of yours. Nor of anyone else's. I tell
you in all candor it is not a fact I wish ever to be known. Nor
do kindly disposed toward you, sir, for your having
I feel
pressed this loathsome fact to my consideration. True, I was
previously aware of, her condition. But I have chosen of
. .

my own free will to ignore it. It is my wish, sir, that you and all
the members of the board do likewise.
MR. PHILLIPS: Sir, I am
amazed. I have just told you that
your wife is soon to be delivered of your child, a child you
seem determined will be gestated and born in a madhouse,
amidst scenes of the most horrid chaos, amongst madmen and
madwomen, and you advise me to ignore it?
MR. GIRARD: Precisely,
MR. PHILLIPS: Mr. Girard, I am trying to tell you that given
these newly discovered circumstances we cannot permit you
to leave Mrs. Girard in these conditions. Indeed, to place such
a woman in such surroundings at such a time is to pose the
greatest possible threat to her sanity, no matter how sound of
mind she might have been beforehand.
 The Insanity of Mary Girard 83

MR. GIRARD; I see. (He writes out d draft) Perhaps this will be
sufficient.

(He hands the check Oul io Air. Phillips, but Philips does not take

MR. PHILLIPS: Mr. Girard. It is not a question of money,

Sire

MR. GIRARD: Is that fact?

MR. PHILLIPS: It is, sir.

MR. GIRARD: Come, come, sir. J am a loyal and an active

supporter of our new Republic, and I am a businessman. In
both capacities it has been my experience that everything in
life is a question of money. I have found no friendship, no

love, no loyalty, and no fact that cannot be altered by a large

enough draft or a tidy enough sum of money.
MR. PHILLIPS: Surely you can't believe that, Mr. Girard.
MR. GIRARD: Believe it? I know it. It is fact, sir. I have
staked my career on it, and, as you can see, I have prospered.
(Thrusting the check at him) Look at this!
MR. PHILLIPS*. (Taking the check) Three thousand dollars,
But thismade out.
is

MR. GIRARD: To you, That is payment in advance

sir.

which I hope you will be gracious enough to accept from me

You see, I do not choose to be concerned any further with any
difficulties that may arise due to my wife's confinement. . . .

Therefore, I humbly ask that you personally see to it that

whatever needs be done is done to keep all references to hert
her child, if it should live, and any other difficulties concern•
ing her, beyond my awareness. As to the board of trustees, tell
them I will assume all responsibility for this matter, in writingt
of course. Tell them, also, that within a month of my unfortu-
nate wife's demise the hospital shall receive a check identical
to the one you hold now. You need not ever mention this
check. I feel a man's finances are no one's affair but his own,
Tell them, also, that upon my death, I will bequeath Pennsyl-
vania Hospital no less a sum than ten times the amount writ-
ten there. All 'this, of course, to be above and beyond the sums
already agreed to for her daily care, and given in deepest
gratitude for the superb treatment accorded the insane
woman who unfortunately still bears my name.
84 LANIE ROBERTSON
MR. PHILLIPS: I don't know what to say.
MR. GIRARD: Answer only this: can it be done?
MR. PHILLIPS: Yes.
MR. GIRARD: Goodl See to it then. I believe you know your
way out?
MR. PHILLIPS• But, sir .
MR. GIRARD: Sir?
MR. PHILLIPS: What of the child?
MR. GIRARD: That, sir, is no Concern of mine.
MR. PHILLiPs: I would not have a child of mine born under
such conditions for all the money in the world.
MR. GIRARD: And I can assure you, sir, neither would I.
MR. PHILLIPS: Mr. Girard. Do you mean the child
MR. GIRARD: I bid you good day, sir.
MR. PHILLIPS: Sir.
(Lights fade on Girard and Phillips. Furies set Mary free)
MARY: No, Mr. Phillips, don't go! Please don't go!
FURIES: He can't. Hear you. Mary.
MARY: He can. I know he can. He looked right at me.
FURIES: He can't hear you. Because he doesn't. Want to.
Men lose all their faculties. If the profit's sound.
MARY: Mr. Phillips!
FURIES: He hear you, Mary, He won't hear you. No.
can't
Body. Will Poor Mary. Poor Mary Girard.
MARY.• What will become of my child?
FURIES: Whose baby is it, Mary? Yes, tell us, Mary. Tell us
who the father iss Tell us. Tell. Tell.
MARY: The father is unimportant. He was someone warm
and affectionate to me.
FURIES: You were untrue, Mary. You cuckolded your
husband. You betrayed him. And broke your marriage vows.
For shame. Shame, Mary. You will give birth to an evil thing.
Only evil comes from evil. Something dark and horrid comes
from evil. Darkness bred in darkness gives forth darkness.
MARY: I don't believe it. I don't believe youw You're trying
to drive me mad.
FURIES: You should have been like. Polly. Kenton. Yes,
definitely. Like Polly. Then you would have. Been all right.
Had your baby. And your home. Your mother would have.
 The Insanity cf Mary Girard 85

Been so. Grateful. Mrs. Lum would have. Loved. Having a.

Daughter like. Polly.

MARY: What are you saying?
FURIES: Polly. Polly. Polly.
MARY: I am Polly.

FURIES: Polly. Polly Mary. Polly Mary Girard. Crazy Mary

Girard. Yes, now. But not soon. No, not soon. Soon the whole
know. Mr. Girard's Polly. They will have.. Forgotten
city will
you. Mary. Even your mother. If she were alive. Miould favor,
Polly.
MARY: What are you talking about?
(The Furies exits leaving Polly Kenton)
POLLY: They were talking about me, Mrs. Girard.
MARY: Who are you? What are you doing here? I don't
know you!
POLLY: My
name's Polly, Polly Kenton. There's no reason
why it should be important to you. I'm only one ofa long line
of housekeepers wholl replace you, Mrs. Girard.
MARY: You admit that to my face?
POLLY:I'm not important really. Only one in a long line of
girls and women he will turn to. has turned to already. You
know that.
MARY: Yes, I know it. I know that Sally Bickham, the slut.
He brought her into my house. Called her his housekeeper.
Tried to keep me out of town so I couldn't see she'd taken
over my room. And you! You're just like her, is that it?
POLLY; In a way, just like her.
MARY'. And there will be others, too, I suppose.
POLLY: I'm sure there will be.
MARY: And so you're a whore just like all the others,
(Pause)
POLLY: I'm his housekeeper, MIS. Girard. The difference
is that I will be more successful and longer lasting than the
rest. He will even come to care for me a little, as much as he is
able to care for a woman, anyway.
MARY: I don't believe you.
POLLY: I wouldn't lie to you, Mrs. Girard, because I have
no need to do so.

(Pause)
86 LANIE ROBERTSON
MARY: Why he care for me?
didn't
POLLY: In the beginning he did. You should have had his
child.
MARY: But it wasn't my fault we didn't have children. Oh,
I thought it was. And I knew he blamed me. He didn't say

anything, but sometimes as I was sewing I'd suddenly feel

cold, as though a draft of icy wind had pierced me, and I'd
look up and see him staring at me. Only that. Only staring.
And I knew he was looking at me as though I were a column
of figures that didn't quite balance in his cash books. Later, he
started taking me to doctors. They said that I was a "nervous
woman." So he would send me into the country to cure my
"nerves." Then I began to have these terrible headach es. And
I hated to be around him, for I knew he felt I'd swindled him

because I couldn't give him a son.

POLLY; You sound as though you wanted him to care for
you.
MARY: Is that so strange?
POLLY: It isn't practical. You should have known what you
could get from him and what you could not. You should have
known what he expected in return and seen to it that you gave
it to him.
MARY; His affection was
wanted. all I

POLLY: Bat he had none to give. Wealth was what he bad

to give you.
MARY: That was nothing to me, nothing,
POLLY} If you had given him a baby you would have com-
pleted your side of the bargain. He, in turn, would have given
you undying gratitude. And if you could have managed to
his
have a son, you would have won his affection as well.
MARY: But we could not have children. We tried and we
could not,
POLLY: You should have seen you had a child,
to it that
even if it was not his. He would have thought it his, and the
bargain would have been complete. You would have won his
affection.
MARY: Must it be like a business transaction?
POLLY: All relationships are. Everyone expects to get
 The InsanÜy of Mary Girard 87

something in return for what they're giving. And if you mis-

judge the stakes or barter foolishly, offer what you cannot
give, take what you do not want, the relationship won't last, or
else, what is far worse, it will last for a long time, with each
bitterly believing he was cheated, but too ashamed to admit it
even to himself.
MARY: But you've not had his children have you?
POLLY: Of course not. A man expects his wife to bear his
children and his mistress to bear none.
MARY: Yet you've won his affection.
POLLY: Yes, I have.
MARY: why? How?
POLLY: By not even wanting have always been honest
it. I

with him. He knows all I want from him is a comfortable

home. In exchange I've shown him a solicitous care. I 've

babied him, become his mother, his mistress. And I've aly;ays
known the mistress was only incidental. I've let him become
with me the little boy he wanted from you. YVhen he was a boy
his mother went insane. He saw in you that which had closed
him off from her. The more outrageously you tried to gain his
attentionand sympathy, the more he turned away in loathing.
Your behavior has made him come to hate you.
MARY: Has he said that to you?
POLLY: I can tell you his words exactly. "I hate her like the
devil, and I note with pleasure that this feeling increases

daily."
MARY: I don't believe you. He wouldn't say that. He
wouldn't feel that.
POLLY: "I hate her like the devil, and I note with pleasure
that this feeling increases daily."
MARY: I won't believe you! I can't!
POLLY: "I hate her like the devil, and I note with pleasure
that this feeling increases daily.' t
MARY; What wrong did [ do him?
intolerable
POLLY: Perhaps he does not know himself. The fact is,
however, you were not sensible. You see, it is never sensible to
expect a man to understand or to tolerate the dreams of his
wife.
88 ROBERTSON
(Polly exits)
MARV: And they told him that t suffer from dreaming.
FURY #1.' Oh, we got us some cures for dreamers here,
Mary.
FURY Dr. Rush gives special care to dreamers, Mary,
FURY #3: Some icy baths in winter-
FURY #5: Splinters under the thumbnails.
FURY #2: A white-hot iron on the soles of the feet for

sanity.
MARY: Bur they would not do that to me, for they know
I'm sane.
FURIES: I-low could they. Possibly. Know that?
MARV: They know it because ids true.
FURIES: Did they. Tell you, You are. Sane? Mary?
MARY: I know it. One can tell. Surely one can tell for one-
self?
FURIES: No. They have to tell you. Tell you, Mary. Tell
you.
MARY', Who can do that? The doctors? The Board of
Managers?
FURIES: You can, Mary. It's easy as pie, Mary. Mary, Crazy
Mary Girard. You can tell. If you really. Want. To, It's easy as
pie, Mary. Easy as making your bed. Gathering flowers. Lis•
tening. As simple as praying to God, Mary. God. God. Where
are you God?
FURY #5: Do you ever pray Mary?
MARY: What do you mean? Of course, I
FURY No. no, no, no. To really, really pray to Al-
mighty God 'With all of your mind and all of your heart and all
of your soul. To pray until His heart and His mind and His
soul open out to you until you are riding there. Until you are
riding there like crystal. Riding on beams of the purest,
whitest, celestial crystal. O Jesus. My Saviour. Sweet, Sweetv
Jesus . .

FURIES'. Jesus, Jesus. Sweet, Sweet Jesus.

BIARY: And because of that you have
FURY #1: Have ye never locked up Mary?
a lock,
FURIES: Clickety-clackv Clickety•lock. Lock up the lock.
 The Insanity of Mary Girard 89

'FURY #1: have. Many Ye turns the key right in the

times.
lock big as a pie. Takes tem with this hand, like this, an' puts
'em in, like this, an' turns the key in the lock, like this, big as a
pie. Big as a pie. You turn the key right in the lock, big as a
pie. Takes 'em with this hand like this, jus' like my daddy tole
'er, and puts 'em in, like this, an' turns the key in the lock, like

this,big as a pie. Ye turns the key right in the . .

FURIES: Lock big as a pie. Takes ern with this hand.

Clickety-clack. Lock up the lock.
MARY: I don't understand what . .

FURY #3: I would have understood. Exactly, Mary. Have

you ever made your bed, Mary? It must be done, exactly. At
the proper time. Not too late or improperly or too soon. Not
just any way. The sheets must be smoothed and straightened
well until no single line or wrinkle. Until no single line or
wrinkle disturbs the weight of the counterpane that touches,
And if the covers are spread straight, Pillows fluffed up
.

soft. Smoothest straight then. But if it is not as neat and as

smooth as hair. It must be. It must not it must be torn . .

apart. One must 'begin. again. The sheets must have.

. . .

FURIES: No. Wrinkles. Mary. Smooth, Mary. As smooth as.

Hair, Mary.
MARY; But how can you possibly .

FURY #4: Have you listened, Mary. On

the docks, I lifted
. I lifted with the sweat. . Hold. And listen. Listen to the
robin . Bales and . Heave for the nonce, lad.
thrush.
Listen for the. Lift. Laugh* Laugh* No. Hold. Heave with .

the crank on. Hold. Falls NO. Heave. Lips. Speak. Heave.
all.

No. cry. Thunder. Asks. why? No. Hold. No.

(Mary screams)
FURIES: Don't cry. Mary. You mustn't. Cry. Mary. Or lis-
ten. You mustn't scream, Mary.
FURY #2: You never gathered flowers did you, Mary? I
gathered more flowers than anyone has ever dreamed of. I
had them. Have you ever held a flower, IMary. Your
to hide
very own flowers, Mary. Tender and secret and gentle. Hide it
in your arms. You in your secret place. Did you rock with it!
Mary. Rock until one by one the petals fall and the stem dries
90 LANIE ROBERTSON

up and the cradle rocks. By yourself, Mary.. Rock your-

self, Mary.
FURIES: What can you tell, Mary. Tell us, Mary. Tell us
about your. Self. Mary. Tell us. Tell. Us.
MARY: Afterward. The sounds of water lapping in the pail
through the streets. And before. As I drew it from the well,
for my arms were always strong,
FURIES: Mary? Mary? Yes. Yes?
Yes.
MARY: The sounds of empty spaces in the water made by
the dripping. By the sucking of the bucket. Brim-full. Lifting,
lifting. . .

FURIES: Yes, Mary.

MARY: And . and sometimes asa little girl I stood be-
.

side my father to watch him working. The sound of his ham-

mer hammering. Nails . .

FURIES: That's right, Mary. Yes.

MARY." The sound of the nails being driven and him
and him . . . Bring him to me!
FURIES: (Afraid. Weeping. Trembling) We don't know.
Who you. Mean, We daren't step. On any toes. We cannot i

MARY: (Interntpting) Bring Stephen Girard! Bring him

now into this cell
FURIES: No, no. Oh, no, we must. Not. We cam Not. No,
no, no.
MARY: Bring him!
(Girard enters. He does nol know where he is for a moment. The
Funes surround him and then hide behind him)
GIRARD: How did you get here?
MARY: I am where you placed me, Stephen.
GIRARD: Where I I shouldn't be in this place.

MARY: No. Stephen?

GIRARD: No, I .

MARY: (Laughing) Do you think I'm a vision?

GIRARD: No. Of course not. I no. . .

(Mrs. Ilalcher otters with Mr. Phillips)

MRS. HATCHER: Is it true as they say that the baby is that of
Mary Girard's?
MR. PHILLIPS: The baby's origin is a matter of no im-
 The Ipsanity Mary Girard 91

portance, Mrs. Hatcher. You and Mr. Hatcher will receive the
set sum for nursing the child just as you have with all the
other children you have cared for in the past.
MRS. HATCHER: Yes, Mr. Phillipsv I do appreciate your call-
ing on me again. My health is ever so much better now than it
used to be.

MR. PHILLIPS: The past is past, Mrs. Hatcher.

MARY: Why have you done this to me?
GIRARD: I had no choice. You are insane.
MARY: Don't lie to me, Stephen. Even if I were insane you
could have spared me this. Both you and I know what my
behavior was. You know as well as I that I am sane.
GIRARD: I hope that is true.
MRS. HATCHER: Oh. Such a pretty little baby. And a girl.
Mjhat is her name?
MARY: Her name is Maryl
MR. PHILLIPS: Call her whatever you wish. It is immaterial.
MRS. HATCHER: Oh, I shall take good care of this one, Mr.
Phillips. There won't be no repeats of my old mistakes. ['m
ever so much better now.
MR. PHIL-LIPS: I told you not to speak of the past, Mrs.
Hatcher, Both for your sake and for the sake of the Hospital it
is best if you keep hidden from your neighbors the source

from which you've rcccived this child.

MRS. HATCHER: (Exiting) Oh, I shall love having her. I am
truly grateful. I've never had a little girl before. think I'll call
you . Rose. Rose is my name, you see, and you will be my
little girl.

MR. PHILLIPS.• (Calling after her) Mrs. Hatcher!

MARY; She told me you hated me like the devil. I didn•t
believe her until this moment,
GIRARD: Who told you that?
MR. PHILLIPS: (Calling) Mrs. Hatcher!
MRS. HATCHER: (Returning) Yes, Mr. Phillips?
MR. PHILLIPS: Mr•s. Hatcher. I would caution you against
becoming too fond of this childE It is, after all, a child born
under unpropitious circumstances.
MRS. HATCHER: What do you mean, Mr. Phillips?
92 LANIE ROBERTSON
MR. PHILLIPS: I am asking you to treat it the same as you
would any other child.
MRS. HATCHER: Oh, I will sir.
MR. PHILLIPS: Yes? Well, good. Yes, I would have you treat
it just as thoutyh it were a . . a normal child.

MRS. HATCHER: Isn't it a normal child, Mr. Phillips?

MR. PHILLIPS: Oh, I didn't mean to alarm you, Mrs.
Hatcher. This baby seems normal, doeön't it? It needs all the
care and attention other children require. Only there is a
difference.
MRS. HATCHER: What difference, Mr. Phillips? Tell me,
please.
MARY: Don't let him do this!

MR. PHILLIPS: mother is a patient among the insane.

Its
MRS. HATCHER: Oh, no!
MR. PHILLIPS: The baby has been born by and among
those possessed of devils.
(The Furies dance)
MRS. HATCHER: God preserve us!
MR. PHILLIPs: Born by and among those possessed ofde-
vils.

MRS. HATCHER: God preserve us.

MR. PHILLIPS.I By and among those possessed of devils.
MRS. HATCHER: God preserve uS.
(Mrs. Hatcherand Mr. Phillips exit)
MARY: Is that what I am to you? When we met I was six-
teen, a servant carrying water through the streets. I laughed
at everything then. And I was happy without even knowing it.
Do you remember that girl, Stephen?
GIRARD: She does not exist, Niadam.
MARY: No. 1*Ve destroyed her, you and I. Destroyed her
utterly. Didn't you ever love her?
GIRARD; She was pretty. People noticed her. She was inno-
cent, a trait few women have.
MARY: Innocent! And then she married you and she
thought she had gained the whole world, and in reality gained
only this little room.
GIRARD: She had everything she could have wanted.
 The Insanity c/ aVIury Girard 93

MARY: The cost was too great.

GIRARD: It cost her nothing.
MARY: Nothing! (She laughs) What is the value of nothing,
Mr. Girard? What is its price? Can you estimate the enormity
of nothing? I can tell you it is beyond calculation. I pre-
pared to give you everything, but you wanted only nothing.
So it is fitting that you have placed me here in this room with
nothing.
GIRARD: You had everything a woman could reasonably
have wanted.
MARY: What good is reason without some little affection?
GIRARD; If you wanted affection you should have told me
instead of making a public display of yourself.
MARY; Stephen, I made no attempt to hide my behavior
from you. We differed in only one way. I didn't bring my
lovers under your roof. You cannot fault me for that. I always
maintained a respect for you and a regard for your feelings
and your pride. Perhaps I should not have done the things I
did. But in that I am not alone. Don't lock me up in this poor
house. Send me away, Stephen. I will go wherever you wish.
Take me back to one of your houses and lock me ina room for
the rest of my life. Give me my father's tools, nails and a
hammer, and L will drive the demons away from me. Lock me
in a room; allow me there to suffer my conscience and dream
my dreams alone.
GIRARD: Alone! A seclusive wife pleases no one. The
needs of my sex are fewer than those of yours, IMadam. Men
are more self-sufficient. Consequently, it is all the more im-
portant for a man's wife to see to it that his needs are met.
Your acknowledgment of me as your husband never went
beyond the duties of the flesh.
MARY: You mean to say my thoughts were my own?
GIRARD: I mean to say you failed to be a dutiful wife.
\Vhen I found you you were a peasant. Your mother remains
one. I had hoped you would develop a sense of who you had
become in becoming my wife. I had hoped you would rise
above your orioins sufficiently to modify an overly tolerant
nature. It is well-known that the wife of Stephen Girard con-
94 LANIE ROBERTSON
verses indiscriminately with persons of no consequence as
readily as she does with persons Of some social standing. In
these ways, and others, you have failed me.
(Pause)
MARY: Yes, you are right. In these ways I have failed you,
Stephen.
(Mary turns from him and starts to exit}

GIRARD: If only you could

MARY: What? Be a dutiful wife? (S!ight pause) NO!
GIRARD: I can make your life a hell on earth, Madam!
MARY: When I was childless you blamed me. I, too,
thought I was barren. I felt I had cheated you out of a son.
But it wasn't me. You couldn't put life in my body because you
had none in your own. I got more warmth from a stranger in
a little hour than you could ever give. It isn't my child that is
loathsome to you, Mr. Girard, but the freedom Of my mind
and my love of life itself. May God have pity on you, sir.
GIRARD; God? (Pause. Very calmly) I do not know if God
exists. If Ithought He did I would pray that He keep you
here for ever so long a time. As I cannot be sure of Him, L will
see to it myself that you endure a hell on earth. And I will
pray to a possible God that it may endure forever.
(Girard exits)

MARY: But
All right. All right. my baby will live.
FURIES.' She thinks her baby She thinks her infant
She thinks her child
. INill give her comfort. I,vill give
.
.

her solace. Will bring her relief, Not so, Mary. Oh, no, no. No.
You were untrue, Mary. You cuckolded your husband. You
betrayed him. And broke your marriage vows. For shame.
Shame, Mary. You will give birth to an evil thing, Only evil
comes from evil. Something dark and horrid comes from evil.
Darkness bred in darkness gives forth darkness. As we have
shown you the head. As we have shown you the heart. As we
have shown you the past. As we have shown you what the far
future holds. So we will now show you what is yet to be.
(Furies place the bundle in Mary's arms)
MARY: She is. so. . . so very lovely. If I ever doubted that
you were worth so much suffering forgive me. (To Furies) Why
 The Insanity OJ Mary Girard 95

are you looking like laughing laughing? Tell me.

Tell me. She will live, won't she?
FURIES: Oh, yes. Doubtlessly. Most definitely.
MARY: And she will be happy? Tell me. Will she be happy?
FURIES: Most certainly. Decidedly. Assuredly. Quite as
happy as she could be. Most decidedly happy.
MARY: Then I shall live for that if you will promise me
that.

FURIES: Oh, yes. We can do that. Yes. The question. How-

ever. Is. How long?
MARY: How long?
FURIES: It will not be. A longish. Life.
MARY: tiVill she die young?
FURIES: (Taking the bundle from her) She will. Yes. Quite.
Quite young.
MARY: Quite young? Will she live twenty years?
FURIES: Twenty! Heavens! What an age!
MARY: Fifteen years?
FURIES: Goodness no! Certainly. Not!
MARY: Then ten years, surely ten?
FURIES: Gracious goodness, no. Nothincy like it. Far from
it.

MARY: Then five? A little five?

FURIES: Yes, Mary. Yes, indeed. You've hit on it.
MARY: My poor dear little child. Only five brief years of
life.

FURIES: Oh, wrong! Years? M,te said nothing. About. Years.

MARY: But you just nDW said five .

FURIES: Months. Mary. Yes. Months. Five. Five months.

Yes. Yes.
MARY:Nol Oh, no! My little one.
FURIES: Five months. Is. Quite enough. Then buried. In
an unmarked grave. That you will have in common. Mary.
You, too, will be buried in an unmarked grave. Here. On the
hospital grounds. You'll never leave these walls. Mary. And no
services. Oh, no, Mary. No hymns nor prayers for you. A
burial. No services.
MARY: Good! That at least I delight to hear. And tell me
96 LANIE ROBERTSON
when. The sooner the better will best suit me. If God has any
mercy it will be soon. Tell me.
FURIES: Guess! Mie couldn't just say. Oh, no, you'll have to
guess.
MARY: A year?
FURIES:So short a time? Heavens. No.
MARY: Two? Three? Five? Surely no more than five.
FURIES: Yes, five! Five is right again! So clever is our Mary.
Fives And twenty. Twenty. Twenty. More.
MARY: Twenty more? Five and twenty years? I could not
stand it!

FURIES: Well, most of it. Milill be. There. In this chair. The
Tranquilizing Chair. The restraining chair. Bound down.
Like the Thing you are.
evil.
MARY: No! No! God would not permit it. He would not
keep me living here in this hell hole for five and twenty years.
I couldn't bear He will be merciful to me and let me die
it.

soon. Soon! Please dear God, sweet, sweet Jesus, be merciful

to me and let me not stay here for such an age.
FURIES; Oh, isn't she funny! Sweet, sweet Jesus! Jesus!
She's starting to froth at the mouth in prayer. God won't hear
you either, Mary. No more than Mr. Phillips. Why should He?
Heis too busy. Besides He's set you up for it. It's God's jest,
Mary. And the fool is. You!
MARY: Get away from mel I won't listen to you. Please
God, please!
FURIES; He made you beautiful. Cod did. And you made
the mistake of believing in your own beauty. It's played you a
devilish trick. It's been your doing. And your undoing. It's
played you a devil ofa trick. God did it to you. Too. Mary.
MARY: God, help me! Help me!
FURIES:Look at her. Oh, I love it when she prays to dark
corners and damp walls! To empty spaces between the stars.
Ifshe could see any stars. Can you, Mary? Can you. See. Any
stars?
MARY: I don't know. My eyesight is so dim.
FURIES: It always happens. After long confinement. In
dark places.
 The Insanily of Mary Girard 97

MARY: Where are you God? Please answer me.

FURIES: Please answer me! Oh. Wherew Are. You. God.
God. God.
MARY: Stop it! Damn you! All of you. Where He? And
is

who is He? Is He another man? Then I'll have nothing to do

with such a God. And I damn you, God! I damn you!
FURIES: Do you hear? She's now giving proof. That
she's.
Insane. Insane, Insane folks always deny God. They have to.
They're the Devil's own. His handiwork. His cohorts. His con-
sorts. Maybe The Devil's whores Maybe
she's the Devil's bitch.
she's sucked bile from the Devil's own tit. And filled her belly
with his swollen prick Mary, the Devil's trick. Mary Girard,
the Devil's harlot, the Devil's cat, the Devil's bat, the Devil's
meretrix! IVhen they discover how she's cursed God . . .

MARY} Leave me alone!

FURIES: And turned on Him . .

MARY: Don't touch me!

FURIES: And denounced and damned Him
MARY: Stop!
FURIES: Then maybe they"ll tear the babe from her bleed-
ing belly. Condemn it for a cursed thing. Pull it with pinchers
from her Devil's doorway. Kick it. Tromp on it. Spit On it.
Damn Curse it. Pull it. Tear it. Bury it living. Burn it with
it.

firesticks. Break it with stones.

MARY: STOP!
FURIES: Now she's caught our scent. Like hounds behind
the fox. Let's hope. She's quick. To. Make the. Leap. At last.
She. Understands!
MARY: Yes. At last I do understand. (Pause) What if I were
insane and didn't even know? I think I wouldn't care. The
bed is firm. There is a window there that I could look from if I
stood atop the bed. If I were calm they would not always keep
me in this chair. If I were to accept you as my companions and
not resist you I could walk about. Take some few steps.
Look from the window. Sometimes I might see the sky. Smell
the air. Give birth to my poor, pitiful child. Isn•t that true?
FURIES; (Softly) Yes. Mary. Yes, Yes. Indeed.
'MARY: And if I were to turn my back on that world, and
98 LANIE ROBERTSON

scorn all the values it adores, denying myself the luxury

wealth can provide, then that must stand as proof that I am
insane, wouldn't it?

FURIES: Yes! Oh, yes! Yes. Yes.

MARY: For here is only poverty, solitude, and deprivation
where there, in the great world, is wealth, endless self-
indulgences, and the society of ordinary people such as him,
Mr. Stephen Girard. And if I were to prefer all this to all that,
then the world would know me to be mad, ;wouldfft they?
FURIES: Yes, certainly. Most assuredly, Mary. Definitely so,
Mary.
MARY: Then if I am not mad already, I scon shall bee For
there is a point in my mind, a point of absolute stillness where
hatred, jealousy, and greed cannot come. A point of feeling,
of being, which longing and unhappiness cannot touch. And
when I pull myself into that place I feel as though I'd reached
something like God, but greater, far greater than God. And
going there I can look out on my little life as though it were a
shadow shown upon a wall. And all is quiet and gentle and
peaceful there for no human being can enter. And by com-
parison the world outside is horrid with greed, and heartless
and cruel.
So let them come to the wi ndows to point and laugh at me. I
will show them the respect they warrant. Dare let them come.
I shall give them the show they expect and deserve. I will

greet them with venom, caress them with violence and

address them with words obscene and gestures which are vul-
gar. I shall look them boldly in the eyes to curse them and spit
on them from the depths ofa well of hatred, for [ shall teach
them that they are nothing more than a fart in the face of
God. And tear OITmy clothes to show them my netherparts so
they can plainly see how completely Irepudiate their world in
order to enter this. And I shall have nothing to lose. And it
be no capitulation or surrender, For, from this day, I,
shall
Mary Girard, shall be truly and happily insane. Insane. In-
sane. Insane. Insane. Insane. Insa
(During the latter half of the above speech, the Furies have very
cautiously placed Mary in the restraining chair. On the line, "And
 The Insanity of Mary Girard 99

I shall have nothing 10 lose," Ihe bells of the churches peal through-
out the city.

In the midst of Marysfinal word, one of the more daritrg of the

Furies drops the box dozen over Manyis Lead so the sound of the
word is cut of.
The Furies exit.

Lights stay up on Mary in the restraining chair, then they slowly

begin to fade and suddenly blackout. Beds crnlinue chiming and
grow in volume, then stop)

Curtain