The Chalk Garden

by Enid Bagnold

The Chalk Garden tells the story of Mrs. St Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under the care of Miss Madrigal, a governess. The setting of the play was inspired by Bagnold's own garden at North End House in Rottingdean, near Brighton, Sussex, the former home of Sir Edward Burne-Jones. The work has since been revived numerous times internationally, including a film adaptation in 1964.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Fiction, Theatre, Classics, British Literature

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

British writer of novels and plays, best known for National Velvet and The Chalk Garden.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Bag...

Reviews

[Petra misses the stretchy icecream of Samarkand]

This is a totally magical vignette of a story within an Edwardian costume drama like Downton Abbey. It's also a bit gothic in its creepiness.

Essentially there is a snobbish old bat (think: Maggie Smith) with enough money to maintain a staff of an autocratic butler (never seen) who is dying in his bed and a traumatised manservant who certainly doesn't 'know his place'. She is seeking to employ a governess for her teenage granddaughter. The granddaughter's hobby is arson, her expertise is lying and her co-conspirator the crime-obsessed manservant. She gets rid of all governesses with her appalling behaviour so her grandmother is forced to take anyone who applies and can put up with the brat.

And so the job falls to a mysterious but obviously well-bred lady who has no references and is not in the least subservient to the old bat to whom she gives better gardening advice than the unseen butler.

The plot also involves lies about rape, a mother come back to claim her daughter now she is remarried and pregnant and the consequent tug-of-war with granny and an elderly judge who comes for lunch.

And it is the judge who resolves the story and reveals the secret the mysterious governess has been keeping close to her bosom. She is a woman apparently convicted wrongly by the judge of murder who spent a long time in prison and is now trying to re-establish herself in any way she can. Her secret revealed she must leave, but the old bat cannot bear to lose an expert gardener and so she ends up staying, but on her own terms.

It is all quite fun, comic, over-the-top even, but also very dark.

Very enjoyable. Recommended to lovers of gentle drawing-room or costume dramas. Imagine Maggie Smith playing the mad old bat and perhaps a young Jeremy Irons as the neurotic manservant, not sure who for Lauren. Maybe a 16 year old Linsdey Lohan behaving as badly on screen as she does in real life now. Imagine this play with that cast and you're halfway there.

[Lauren]

This one didn’t resonate with me. Governess with an unknown past, messed-up family dynamics: I like the ideas hinted at but the play itself was pretty meh. The various pieces didn’t quite connect. Not recommended.

[Neil]

If you've seen the film of this, it's basically loyal to the play, but you have to read between the lines a little bit more to see everything that is actually happening. There are pretty good reviews elsewhere here about the basic plot points, which involve a mysterious governess coming to a mysterious household and each side trying to discern the other's secrets. It's entertaining, but the language here is somewhat florid. Or perhaps it has dated just poorly enough, but either way, you'd need a good production with strong acting and direction for some of the story not to get lost in the subtext.

Fun, but perhaps in need of an update.

[Jeff Stookey]

The college department where I studied theater mounted a production of The Chalk Garden in the 1970s, and I fell in love with the play because of this somewhat Buddhist line: “If it upsets you better not recall it.” Recently I’ve had a hankering to reread the play, but reading it right after finishing The Grapes of Wrath was an experience of disorienting culture clash—Steinbeck’s novel being so quintessentially American and the play so British. So perhaps some Americans might be put off by this play.
Other favorite lines:
“The dangerous thing about hate is that it seems so reasonable.”
and
“That is why a garden is a good lesson….so much dies in it. And so often.”
One of the most fascinating aspects of the play is the intricate sparing between the memorable characters as they weigh their power advantages in relation to how much they reveal or conceal the truth of their lives. Dangers exist in each strategy.
So I will conclude with a favorite exchange:
“What shall you do?”
“I shall continue to explore—the astonishment of living!”

[Laura]

It is the mid-1950s. In a Sussex country house, the elderly Mrs St Maugham lives with her unruly granddaughter Laurel. Though without references, Miss Madrigal becomes the paid companion to Laurel. Only when The Judge visits does the truth unravel. The production is introduced by the director, Michael Grandage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00zddlk

[Carey]

Really loved this - very moving, wonderful and believable characters and ultimately redeeming.

[Donald Sinclair]

This is a play. I loved the movie and I love the play. Not sure why, just do. It’s an easy, light, enjoyable read.

[Bettie]

Bettie's Books

[Martin Denton]

The Chalk Garden is a quirky comedy/drama.mystery about a fading aristocrat named Mrs. St. Maugham, about whom the nice thing to say is that she's eccentric; her granddaughter Laurel, who at sixteen still hasn't gotten over her mother's remarriage four years prior and stubbornly stays with her grandmother and mimics, in her own way, that lady's eccentricity; and a mysterious woman called Miss Madrigal who applies for the job of Laurel's companion and ends up transforming the household, a literal breath of fresh air in a place so stagnant that nothing can grow in it, inside or out.

Bagnold's work here is nothing if not unconventional, with the first act structured like a languid, odd drawing room comedy and the second act, rather startlingly, a suspense thriller as Miss Madrigal's uncharted past becomes an object of curiosity for Laurel and the audience. Act Three manages a tidy conclusion. Bagnold's contrivances--the on-cue entrances of Laurel's absent mother; the foreboding arrival of a Judge--make the play creak a bit more than we'd like, but The Chalk Garden nonetheless satisfies.

[lauren]

I like the movie better because it explores the connection between Miss Madrigal and Laurel more. I think there are stronger aspects in the play, like the exploration of why the grandmother is so intent on Laurel living with her, and greater detail regarding Miss Madrigal’s back story. Maitland’s character was way more dynamic which would have been interesting to see in the film adaptation. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this, but was disappointed with the lack of scenes with just Miss Madrigal and Laurel one-on-one, to really solidify their relationship.

[A.B. Neilly]

It is a drama about the complex family relationships in an English house. The servants are part of the decisions made in the family. It is also about the ability to nurture and grow up and the possibility of a new life.

[Child960801]

I don’t read many plays. This is one about a mysterious woman who answers an advertisement to be a companion for a young girl who is being raised by her grandmother.

[Kendalyn]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars
Such an interesting and obscure play that had suspense, engaging characters, unique writing, and of course a plot revolving around a garden (I love garden centered books :).

[Stephanie]

I read the play, would have preferred the book but it wasn't on open library.

[Scull17]

3.5 stars. Pretty good but I prefer the dialogue and changes made in the film adaptation starring Deborah Kerr.

[☾✦Margaret Rolfe✦☽ (on hiatus)]

...i cant lie this was the most boring play i've, like, ever read.

[Cary S]

A strong play with an uneven ending...

[Mary]

Oh dear. What a lot of fuss about nothing. Really quite tedious.

[Jane]

Hard to follow. The play's dated material might translate better on stage.