An Experiment with an Air Pump: Act 1, Scene 3 Summary & Analysis

Susannah’s mocking remark that Fenwick “doesn’t like to sully himself with such vulgarities as cost” underscores the idea that a huge disparity exists between ideals and lived experience. Fenwick likes the idea of republicanism (as opposed to monarchal rule) in theory, yet his views don’t account for the costs that radical change forces society to incur. Still, Fenwick’s idealistic proclamation that “[s]cience is inextricably linked with democracy” suggests that Fenwick  has no interest in abandoning his ideals. It also reveals something important about Fenwick’s thoughts about science’s purpose: he thinks that science should be used not simply to seek knowledge for knowledge’s sake alone—but that it should be used to seek knowledge that improves society. Thus, Fenwick shows that his interest in science is rooted in a moral framework—in other words, it’s not entirely neutral or amoral.

Roget and Fenwick reveal their conflicting views on humanity’s relationship to the truth and knowledge: Roget thinks that the truth repels people, meanwhile Fenwick thinks that Roget’s view is something that the “mystical, pageant-filled past” wants people to believe in order to uphold the status quo. Susannah, meanwhile, has a more literal opinion about the royals—she thinks they’re real people who are “badly dressed.” Interestingly, though Susannah’s view is the most objective and rooted in actual fact (as opposed to an ideological, philosophical view of the world), Fenwick doesn’t seem to take much stock in what she has to say. Once more, the play suggests that Fenwick’s preconceived notion that his wife’s disinterest in science makes her simple and quaint blinds him from seeing her in an unbiased, objective manner. 

Fenwick claims that Susannah’s anger is “very highly strung behavior,” yet it’s apparent to Roget (and the audience) that Susannah has a  perfectly logical, valid reason for being upset: she’s correct to insist that Fenwick ignores her, and his calling her “highly strung” instead of trying to understand why she’s upset is further evidence of this. Fenwick’s ignorance about Susannah’s anger—and the way his own actions contribute to that anger—is yet another example of the many ways that human bias can prevent people from seeing the world objectively. Another important detail of this scene is Fenwick’s idea that science is about “chang[ing] the conditions under which people live.” He’s effectively arguing that science isn’t amoral, as Roget claims it is—nor is this such a bad thing. Instead, Fenwick argues that people should use their morals and other “prejudices” to conduct “good science” that they can use to improve the quality of life for collective humanity.

Armstrong’s repeated efforts to woo Isobel come off as desperate and insincere, especially in light of Isobel’s admission about never receiving a gift in her life. The audience should thus regard Armstrong with suspicion. His efforts to seduce Isobel seem cold and calculated—almost as though he’s conducting a research experiment rather than wooing a potential lover.

Tom’s impulse to garden in the middle of the night is odd and suggests that he’s perhaps still troubled about the bones he found earlier. Indeed, his remark about the roses being over 100 years old reinforces the reverent, sentimental attitude with which he regards the past.

The different language that Ellen and Tom use to describe the box of bones reveals the key difference in their characters. Tom, in referring to the bones as a body, pays respect to the person the bones once were—this shows that he values the past, even if that past doesn’t have direct, explicit relevance to anything in the present day. Ellen, meanwhile, can only see the bones as what they literally are: bones. Ellen’s detached vocabulary suggests a lack of respect for the past—she doesn’t think people should be beholden to past events they have no real power to change. When Tom asks Ellen when things “stop being disturbing and start being archaeology,” he’s criticizing her detached, unaffected relationship to the past. He thinks there’s something callous and inhumane about being so unaffected by the death of another person—even if that person has been dead a long time and has no direct ties to Ellen and Tom’s life.  

Tom’s concerns about the Human Genome Project are quite like Phil’s—both men imply that Kate and Ellen have an overly optimistic, idealistic view of the genetic research that blinds them to the many ways in which ill-intentioned corporations could use genetic research to harm rather than help people. Finally, Tom’s brief remark about the coroner finding a gold chain with the body reflects how deeply the bones are still bothering Tom. In particular, the detail about the gold chain sheds more light on why, specifically, the body upsets Tom. The detail underscores the sad reality that whoever’s bones they once were was a person with a life and a story—a person who, it seems, was loved and valued enough to be the recipient of a gold chain, possibly as a token of someone’s affection.

Isobel gestures toward the idea that it’s impossible for humans to be entirely neutral—consciously or unconsciously, a person is always projecting some kind of moral or personal bias onto their perception of the world, even down to something as elemental as the way they perceive of themselves. Armstrong’s lack of genuine care for Isobel becomes more obvious in this scene—Isobel has just implied that his actions toward her are making her uncomfortable, yet he kisses her anyway.

Armstrong continues to disregard Isobel’s feelings, further suggesting that he doesn’t actually love her and has ulterior motives for seducing her. Those ulterior motives become clearer when he kisses her back—he seems abnormally fixated on it, almost as though it were part of a medical demonstration.  Armstrong’s fixation on Isobel’s back blurs the line between passion and scientific curiosity.

Despite most signs indicating that Armstrong’s feelings for Isobel are insincere, the way Isobel smiles in this scene suggests that she’s beginning to warm to Armstrong and fall for his flattery. Not only does this closing scene build tension, but it also further develops the notion that humans are never truly able to see the world in a wholly unbiased way. Isobel doesn’t see Armstrong’s treatment of her as the manipulation it almost certainly is. Instead, she sees what she wants to see: that someone might actually love her.