Children playing in the streets of Nottingham. They are hungry and greedy.
Jimmy Corbett shows up and attempts to tell them a story.
John Wibley and other luddites come to rouse a group of protesters against the steam
engine.
Jimmy meets Ned Lud and gives him a different look on the situation.
Jimmy is approached by a Man with a barrow.
Jimmy goes home to find that his brother Henry and mother choose to disown him for his
views on steam engines and unfair working conditions.
A beggar leads Jimmy away to live with him in poverty.
Teddy (John’s son) and Old Reaper (his father) talk in the house.
John Wibley enters and asks his wife Mary about what money she has made or food she
has brought home.
Mary takes the children away and only the Old Reaper is left to contemplate.
Ned Lud at home with his starving children and wife.
Margret (Ned’s wife) condemns him for not contributing to their income.
Jimmy visits a luddite meeting and convinces many of his passive views.
John Wibley goes to see Ure and tells him of a rebel in the town (Jimmy).
The women of Nottingham gather at Ure’s house to protest.
They see Mary sneak out and condemn her for prostituting herself for money to feed her
family.
Ned Lud chastises the women as Henry disperses the women from the lawn.
Jimmy visits Ure’s home and has a heated conversation with Ure about the situation of
low employment and the need for men to work.
John Wibley plans to gather men to wreck the steam engine on an unsuspecting night.
Wibley tells of Jimmy’s visits to Ure’s house and paints him as a traitor.
Jimmy is told by the beggar that Wibley intends on breaking peace and breaking the
machine.
The children (workers) in the factory are abused by Henry.
Ure enters with a government representative and gives a tour of working conditions,
insuring the guest that all is well.
John Wibley and others burst through the doors of the factory and protest.
A crazed engineer warns them of the machine’s power.
The group decides the attack the machine; one of them accidentally killed by the
machine.
Wibley tells of Jimmy’s relation to Henry and again tells the luddites that Jimmy is a
traitor.
Jimmy enters to stop the madness.
They beat Jimmy to death.
All of the men disperse and only Teddy and Old Reaper are left.
Old Reaper gives a closing monologue about the misguided passion of man.
Plot Summary
Prologue:
The House of Lords discuss current events and issues surrounding recent uprisings by luddites; Lord Byron pleads to the other lords to not give the death penalty to luddites.
Act 1:
Jimmy Corbett enters Nottingham and talks with a few playing children about fairy tales when John Wibley and the rest of the out-of-work men in town gather on the street to protest the factory and its new steam engine. Jimmy overhears the protests and meets a few of the men including Ned Lud while questioning the situation. Jimmy also talks with a beggar and two drunkards. An Officer breaks up the rally in the street and the men go home.
Act 2, Scene 1:
Jimmy visits his mother and estranged brother Henry. The two brothers have a fight over working conditions and social status ultimately putting a choice to the mother to pick one of them. Jimmy is distraught by her not choosing him and realizes his cause to fight. The beggar walks by and offers Jimmy a place to live while he stays in town, now that his family has disowned him.
Act 2, Scene 2:
Old Reaper talks to himself out a window and little Teddy (Wibley’s son) plays in the living room. John Wibley comes home and questions his wife on how much food she has attained today and talks to her about what she needs to do get more food from the grocer. A few weavers come and visit John and talk about their frustration. Jimmy comes by and gives another opinion on the subject, convincing a few of the men of his methods of dealing with the unemployment situation.
Act 3, Scene1:
John Wibley sees Ure at his house and has talks with him about Jimmy, calling him an agitator of sorts. John curses Ure after he has left.
Act 3, Scene 2:
Jimmy and John have a debate over methods of protest (passive or aggressive) and Old Reaper talks with a man with a barrow who is passing by.
Act 3, Scene 3:
Children play and brag of seeing the machine. Women protest outside of Ure’s house and find Mary (John’s wife) there giving sexual pleasures for favors. The women beat her but are stopped by Ned Lud. Old Reaper passes by and speaks prophetically again.
Act 4, Scene 1:
Jimmy enters Ure’s House to talk and finds his brother Henry there. Henry tells him to leave but Jimmy stands his ground and will not budge. Ure and Jimmy have a heated debate about the right of men to work. Ure invites Jimmy to work for him, but Jimmy declines. After Jimmy has left, Ure curses him.
Act 4, Scene 2:
Ned Lud in his home, fights with his wife about money and finds his children pitiful and hungry. His eldest son enters with a whore and says to Ned that he made him this way by forcing him to work when Ned cannot. John enters and talks with Ned about ignoring Jimmy and his passive ways. Ned is convinced to act upon the machine with violence as was planned before.
Act 5, Scene 1:
John Wibley and Albert plan the destruction of the steam engine on a dark and quiet street.
Act 5, Scene 2:
The Beggar, taking care of Jimmy, tells him of the plans made by John to destroy the steam engine and Jimmy is appalled. Jimmy leaves frantically, and rushes to the factory.
Act 5, Scene 3:
Inside the factory, children are forced to work under strict and cruel conditions. A government representative visits as Ure assures him that all is well and everyone is treated well. Henry beats some of the misbehaving children. The luddites pound on the doors and force their entry into the factory to destroy the machine. Everyone scatters as the engineer talks crazed words to the men; the machine has clearly mesmerized him. The men chase the engineer and one of the men is killed by the machine. Jimmy enters and is called a traitor because his relationship to Henry (Ure’s top overseer in the factory). Jimmy tries to stop them from growing mad and doing something rash, but the John Wibley calls for the men to beat him. The men beat Jimmy to death. Ned Lud sees the error of his ways and how John has poisoned the men’s minds with cowardice. Old Reaper and Teddy enter as everyone leaves. Old Reaper contemplates over Jimmy’s limp body.
No comments:
Post a Comment