Bond’s Passion Scene 1 (The Garden) Summary
The play, Passion, is written by the famous British playwright, Edward Bond, and was published in 1971. This play was written to support the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) organisation. The play uses dark comedy and satire to expose the dangerous effects of war, irresponsible political leadership, and the negative use of scientific knowledge. In the article, you will learn about the summary of the first scene, entitled, The Garden, so that you can understand the plot development in that scene effectively.
Summary of The Garden:
In the beginning of the play, we observe a narrator who introduces an old woman sitting in her garden when the dead body of her only son arrives on a stretcher. Her son was recruited into the army and sent to war for his country. But unfortunately, he is killed in the war by the enemies. So his dead body is brought back to his home in front of his mother.
When the old woman reaches the dead body of her son, the voice of the dead soldier starts describing the terrible situation of his death during the war. He says that he was taken away from his home. He dressed up as a soldier under the influence of the army, and he was given money by them too. He was encouraged to believe that he would fight against the evil people, and he would be welcomed as a friend by the public.
However, the young man finds the truth in opposition to what he was told by the army. During the battle, both armies suffer because of massive destruction, and the young man becomes separated from his companions. Then, the young man walks in a cold and empty desert for several days. He was also very afraid to sleep properly in the desert because the robbers were killing the injured soldiers off and on and stealing their items. So the young man remains alive by consuming the remaining biscuits and the bread crumbs that he found in the pockets of dead soldiers.
Then, the young man, while lying in a ditch, hallucinates under his mental disturbance that the wind is calling his name. When he raises his head to see what’s in front, another soldier shoots him in the face. Although the young man is physically strong, his death is highly painful and slow. In his injured condition, the crows discover his body lying on the earth. These crows begin tearing away his flesh, so eventually the young soldier dies.
After the young soldier finishes telling what he faced during the war, the old woman stops crying. She starts thinking about the financial difficulty that she may have to face because her son was her only source of financial support. And as she is an old woman, it will be highly difficult for her to survive alone. Therefore, she believes that she cannot maintain her life without her son.
And the old woman decides to visit the palace to meet the queen and request her to bring her son back to life. She believes that the queen is highly intelligent and has many clever people who work for the queen. Therefore, the old woman supposes that the queen must be able to perform this miracle.
Though the old woman thinks that the queen may feel the old woman’s difficulty less significant as compared to the queen’s own responsibilities, she hopes that the queen cannot refuse to assist an old woman. The old lady also believes that she has sacrificed once by giving her son to the country when the country needed him. Now the old woman needs her son, so the queen should return her son to her.
In the end, the old woman leaves her cat with the neighbours and goes out to meet the queen at the royal palace. And the dead soldier is carried out or put upstage on the stretcher by some assistants. Then, the first scene ends.
Conclusion:
So that is all what I have to share with you regarding the summary of Bond’s Passion Scene 1, The Garden. I hope you understood all the points mentioned in the summary. And if you like what I shared with you, then please share my content with others. In this way, they can also know about Scene 1 plot development through the summary.