Previous
Act 2
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Winslow Boy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Principles and Sacrifice
Family
Women and Patriarchy
Media and Spectacle
Summary
Analysis
It’s nine months later. At 10:30 p.m., Arthur is sitting in his favorite armchair, reading about the case—it’s headline news. Ronnie and Grace are listening; Ronnie is struggling to stay awake, while Grace is darning socks.
This act opens similar to the previous, with characters reading about the case in the news. This time though, it’s not just in the letters pages—the case is on the front page. The story’s attention has increased and the media pressure intensified. Neither Grace nor Ronnie are really listening to Arthur’s reading, however; they’re becoming numb to the case as it’s been going on a long time.
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The paper gives an account of an exchange in the U.K. parliament. It relays a fierce debate, in which the First Lord defends the position of the Admiralty to jeers and interruptions from the opposition. Arthur says happily, “it looks as if the First Lord’s having rather a rough passage.” Ronnie doesn’t reply, so Arthur wakes him up by sarcastically shouting that he hopes his reading isn’t keeping him awake.
Arthur clearly wants Ronnie to be as interested in the case as he is. After all, it’s being fought on his behalf. Arthur’s sarcasm lets Ronnie know that he actually doesn’t want him to sleep when he’s reading out news about the case.
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Grace thinks her “poor sleepy little lamb,” Ronnie, should go to bed. But Arthur says that Ronnie is the subject of “violent and heated debate” and that he ought to be awake to hear what’s gong on.
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Arthur shouts at Ronnie again. Ronnie says he was listening, just with his eyes closed. Arthur continues reading: the First Lord admits he “was as moved as any honourable Member opposite by [Sir Robert’s] use of the words ‘Let Right be done’ … nevertheless, the matter is not nearly as simple as he appears to imagine.” The First Lord argues that allowing a Ronnie, who is technically a servant of the Crown, to then sue the Crown would set a dangerous precedent. Ronnie falls asleep once more, irritating Arthur.
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Violet comes in, informing Arthur that there are three reporters waiting in the hall. He instructs her to dismiss them as he already gave a statement the day before. Violet asks if she should make sandwiches for Catherine, as she has missed dinner. She leaves the room.
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Grace puts a rug over Ronnie. Arthur says to her that he thinks this is a good time for her to talk to Violet about relieving her of her duties. He says delaying it only adds to Grace’s worries—she asks him bitterly what he knows her worries.
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Arthur says it’s best they let Violet go and explain that it’s too expensive to keep her. Grace is hesitant because Violet was never properly trained as a maid, so even with a good reference might find it hard to find anything else.
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In reference to the financial figures, Arthur says “facts are brutal things.” Grace says, a little hysterically, that she doesn’t know what facts are anymore. Arthur says that it’s a fact that they are living on half the income they were the previous year. Grace says she’s not talking about facts—but about having “a happy home and peace and quiet and an ordinary respectable life, and some sort of future for us and our children.” She accuses Arthur of sacrificing all of that for the case, gesturing to the newspaper headline.
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Arthur says he is going to publish Ronnie’s innocence before the world, and for that he is “not prepared to way the cost.” Grace believes the cost may be out of proportion, but that doesn’t concern Arthur: “An injustice has been done. I am going to set it right, and here is no sacrifice in the world I am not prepared to make.”
Grace reacts angrily, pointing out that Ronnie doesn’t even care about the case—he’s happy at his new school. No one need ever have known about his expulsion, she says. She says he’ll forever be known as the “Winslow boy” who stole the postal order. “The boy who didn’t steal that postal order,” interjects Arthur. Grace says it makes no difference when millions of people are talking and gossiping about him.
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Grace continues her attack on Arthur. She says that Ronnie won’t thank him for the case when he’s older, and that Arthur isn’t being honest with himself about the deterioration of his health due to the stress. She says she’s asked him and Catherine a hundred times why it’s worth destroying the family. “For justice,” replies Arthur. She asks if it isn’t just “pride,” self-importance,” and “stubbornness.”
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Grace breaks down, and Arthur puts his arm around her. Ronnie wakes up a little, asking what the matter is. Arthur says to Ronnie that his mother is a little upset; Ronnie goes back to sleep.
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Violet comes in with sandwiches and a new letter for Arthur. He asks her how long she’s been with the family (twenty-four years). She tells him she read in the Evening News an editorial that complained the case was a waste of the Government’s time. She says sometimes she has to laugh that it’s all about “Master Ronnie.”
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Violet leaves, greeting Catherine who has just come back from watching the parliamentary debate. She updates Arthur on the proceedings, saying it still looks unlikely that they will allow a fair trial to take place—it depends on how the politicians vote.
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Arthur asks Catherine if Sir Robert protested when the First Lord refused them their trial. She tells him that Sir Robert listened to First Lord’s speech with his hat over his eyes, before suddenly getting up, throwing all of his papers on the floor and storming out. She said it was a very effective gesture but doubts its sincerity.
Catherine admits that Sir Robert has done better than she expected, though she still doubts his motivations. She thinks he’s doing it for publicity and because the case is a useful tool to attack the government. They agree it is lucky that he chose to do so; Catherine says Sir Robert is “a fish, a hard, cold-blooded, supercilious, sneering fish.” At that very moment, Violet enters announcing the arrival of Sir Robert—Catherine almost chokes on her sandwich. Sir Robert assists her with a pat on the back.
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Sir Robert has come to update Arthur on the day’s events. Catherine asks if he had noticed she was there; he says with such “a charming hat” it was hard not to. Catherine wants to know about Sir Robert’s previous interrogation of Ronnie—how he decided Ronnie was innocent. Sir Robert says that he if Ronnie was guilty he would have taken him up on his suggestion that the postal order was stolen “for fun,” and that Ronnie made too many bad-sounding admissions to have been telling a lie. Catherine is impressed by his technique.
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Arthur reads the letter brought in by Violet, while Catherine and Sir Robert continue chatting. When he has finished, Arthur says he thinks they should drop the case. Catherine grabs the letter from Arthur, and Sir Robert tells him that to quit now would be “insane.” He insists that whatever the contents of the letter, they must fight on.
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Catherine finishes the letter too, and tells Sir Robert that, contrary to what her father says, the case will go on. The letter is from John’s father, Colonel Watherstone. It says that the “Winslow” name has become a “nation-wide laughing-stock,” and that he can no longer allow John to marry Catherine unless the case is dropped.
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Arthur reiterates that they should end the case, but Sir Robert says that Catherine is clearly willing to take the risk. Catherine has a cigarette, looking scared. Sir Robert asks for one too. Sir Robert apologizes for his tone to Arthur—he’s had a long day.
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Sir Robert tells Catherine again how much he likes her hat. But, he adds, “it seems decidedly wrong to me that a lady of your political persuasion should be allowed to adorn herself with such a very feminine allurement.” She tells him she’s not a militant, just an organizer for the Woman’s Suffrage Association.
Violet comes to the door, saying that John has arrived asking to speak privately with Catherine. Arthur and Sir Robert go to the dining room to let the other two speak. John looks depressed and anxious.
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John brings up the letter from his father. Catherine says she’s read it, but John wants to know what Arthur’s response will be. She says he’ll most likely ignore it—“isn’t that the best answer to blackmail?” John says he tried to get his dad not to send it.
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Catherine says that they can marry without his father’s approval, even if they won’t have much money. John clearly doesn’t think so: “Unlike you I have a practical mind, Kate. I’m sorry.” He tells her she should think very carefully before taking the next step.
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John says surely the case has gone far enough—it’s had two inquiries, the Petition of Right case, and an appeal. Now it’s even getting the parliament into a “frenzy.” John points at Ronnie, still asleep, and says that he won’t mind if they stop.
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Catherine says she’s not even sure if Ronnie did or didn’t do it. She’s fighting the case because the government has “ignored a fundamental human right” in not giving him a fair trial. John argues that, though her words are “noble,” there are greater things to worry about: the threat of war in Europe, miners’ strikes, the chance of civil war in Ireland. Can’t she see that it’s a bit out of proportion, he asks.
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Catherine says that if the parliament is ever too busy to discuss a case like Ronnie’s it will be to the detriment of the country as a whole. John complains that people are mocking him for planning to marry a Winslow. Catherine laughs it off—she says they’re even singing about it in one of London’s music halls.
Catherine asks John if he actually wants to marry her. He says he’s never wavered before, but she thinks he is now. She asks whether, assuming the case is dropped, John’s father will still grant his allowance. She apologizes, saying that she loves him and that she wants to be his wife. He kisses her and says they shouldn’t let something “stupid and trivial” come between them.
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The phone rings. Catherine answers it and then shouts to Sir Robert that it’s for him. He comes out of dining room and apologizes for interrupting. He helps himself to a sandwich and goes to the phone.
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Arthur appears in the doorway, wanting to know what the phone call was about. Sir Robert tells him that one of his fellow barristers apparently gave a scathing attack on the government at parliament. It was so effective that it turned many of the members against the First Lord. Accordingly, the First Lord has just granted the Petition of Right, meaning the Winslows can finally take the course to court.
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Sir Robert asks whether in light of the new information Arthur still wants to cease action. Arthur says it’s up to Catherine. Without hesitation she says to Sir Robert that he doesn’t even need her instructions—they’re already on the Petition of Right: “Let Right be done.” Visibly angry, John storms out. Sir Robert says, ”well, then—we must see that it is.”
