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freedom.
FATIO: These are vain promises, Isaac. And in the depths of your
feverish mind, you must know that a love such as ours, if it were ever
discovered or even guessed at would spell your ruin.
NEWTON: (Ironic) So by deserting me, you are saving me from
myself?
FATIO: View it how you will, I must attend the London coach.
NEWTON: Dearest friend, you are the only human happiness I have
ever known.
(NEWTON embraces FATIO.)
NEWTON: I cannot and I will not let you go!
(FATIO frees himself from NEWTON.)
FATIO: And I cannot tolerate one more day being called Newton s
Ape . As the Lord is my witness, no one will call me that again.
NEWTON: (Clutching his elbows) I beg you, Nicholas, please don t
leave me!
FATIO: (Shaking NEWTON off) I must. Now do not pursue me to the
street, or I will not be answerable for what I do.
Newton s Hooke: Act 2, Scene 2 87
(FATIO leaves, slamming the door behind him. For a moment NEWTON
stands dazed, then he emits an anguished wolf s howl. Using his nails
like talons, NEWTON rips one of his crimson cushions apart. Like a
dervish he flails amid the swirling feathers, throwing books and furniture
about him in a frenzied storm.
As suddenly as it began, NEWTON s fury subsides. With tears streaming
down his face, he is now on all fours like a beaten animal amid the
debris of his room. His posture is reminiscent of William Blake s famous
engraving of NEWTON.
There is a knock on the door but NEWTON is too preoccupied with his
desolation to register it. There is another knock but still he does not
respond. As the door opens, NEWTON s tear-stained face turns towards
it.
CHARLES MONTAGU, First Earl of Halifax, appears in the doorway.
[He is played by the same actor who portrayed FATIO.] But unlike
FATIO, who sported a silver-grey cloak and was hatless, MONTAGU
wears a midnight-blue cloak and his large black hat obscures the upper
part of his face.
Because of NEWTON s deranged state, NEWTON scrambles to his feet
and embraces the disconcerted MONTAGU, believing him to be FATIO.)
NEWTON: I knew you would not forsake me.
MONTAGU: What s wrong, Isaac?
NEWTON: How could you say that your face was no more to me than
moon-washed& ?
(NEWTON trails off.)
MONTAGU: Isaac, don t you& know who I am?
NEWTON: (Slowly realising that he is not addressing FATIO)
Yes& yes& I see now that you are not as I& supposed. Your face is&
similar - but your eyes& (Laughing distracted) Even they have
something in common. But then, to me, all men s faces tend to merge
into one face. What goes on behind their eyes is much the same.
88 Newton s Darkness: Two Dramatic Views
(NEWTON lurches away from MONTAGU.)
NEWTON: But why should I expect anything different? From time
immemorial the Earth has been peopled with whoremongers copulating
like butterflies!
MONTAGU: My dear friend, are your drunk?
(MONTAGU tries to steady NEWTON who is swaying unsteadily.)
NEWTON: Take your hands off me, Montagu! Lechery contaminates.
MONTAGU: Who has done this to you? (MONTAGU surveys the
wrecked room) Tell me and I will have the Watch apprehend your
assailant.
NEWTON: (Blankly) Everyone assails, Montagu; but you cannot
apprehend the whole world.
MONTAGU: For mercy s sake, my friend, sit down&
(MONTAGU tries to help NEWTON into a chair but NEWTON shrugs
him off.)
NEWTON: Locke boasts that he is a Philosopher King, and Wren
proclaims that he has designed the greatest dome in Europe. But the
damnable truth is that they are both whoresons who wish me riddled with
the pox, like they are!
MONTAGU: You speak nothing but filth, Isaac. They are amongst the
most honourable men in the kingdom.
NEWTON: You are no better, my Lord Halifax. I ve seen you squinney
at my niece, and watched her simper her moist lips at you.
MONTAGU: You do not know what you are saying, sir.
NEWTON: Even the motes of dust have rutting microbes on their
backs. (Moving to the open door) The particles in the rainbow are as
heinous.
MONTAGU: Where are you going, Isaac?
NEWTON: To find the solace of an apple tree down by the Cam.
Newton s Hooke: Act 2, Scene 2 89
MONTAGU: You can t walk the river-bank in your delirium for fear&
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