Sexism and Antisemitism
Photograph 51 centers on Rosalind Franklin, a 20th-century scientist whose infamous “Photograph 51” (an X-ray image of crystallized DNA) was crucial in discovering DNA’s double-helix structure. Throughout the play, Rosalind (who’s female and Jewish) works in a lab at King’s College London as a male scientist’s research assistant, and her white male colleagues treat her with relentless sexism and antisemitism that prevent her from being taken seriously in her career. As such…
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Personal Values vs. Professional Success
Throughout Photograph 51, scientific research partners Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins have very different relationships to success and professional fulfillment. Rosalind, a Jewish woman, has spent the majority of her career in a male-dominated field knowing that unless her work is perfect, it will likely be dismissed. As a result, she’s motivated by a genuine love of her work and the ways it could benefit humanity—not the accolades she may or may not receive…
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Choices and Actions vs. Chance and Fate
Photograph 51 focuses on a crucial moment in scientist Rosalind Franklin’s career, when she and her lab assistant Ray Gosling take an X-ray image (“Photograph 51”) that holds the key to the structure of DNA. The monumental discovery has the potential to change the world by introducing humanity to the “secret of life.” But Rosalind decides to keep her findings private until she can be certain of what they mean, illustrating her…
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Time and Memory
The timeline of Photograph 51 is fluid: as the play tells scientist Rosalind Franklin’s story, it also emphasizes the strange and often confusing nature of time. Characters aren’t limited to linear movement through time, as they often comment on their own (and one another’s) pasts, presents, and futures. Through its unconventional structure, the play examines how time worked against Rosalind Franklin, cutting her life short and forcing her into a race against the clock…
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