Ep. 88 - THE FORSYTES - Creative Freedom Disrupts Respectability
Joshua Orpin (Soames), Millie Gibson (Irene), Eleanor Tomlinson (Louisa), Danny Griffin (Jo/Young Jolyon), Tuppence Middleton (Frances), Jack Davenport (James) and Stephen Moyer (Jolyon Sr) - THE FORSYTES, MASTERPIECE PBS
What makes the pursuit of art and creativity a major disruption for a wealthy stockbroking family striving for material success?
Does art have to possess commercial value to be a viable and respectable life choice?
Must pragmatism win out over passion?
In episode 88 The Boston Sisters (Michon & Taquiena) talk about Season 1 of the PBS MASTERPIECE series THE FORSYTES, a reimagined prequel to author John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga trilogy, with Sharon D. Johnson, script consultant for MASTERPIECE including THE FORSYTES series. The conversation explores themes of art versus commerce, family dynamics, and societal expectations in the conflict between pragmatism and passion, particularly in the characters of Irene (Millie Gibson), Soames (Joshua Orpin) and Jolyon Forsyte (Danny Griffin). Their dynamic draws parallels to contemporary issues of artistic freedom and societal pressures. The podcast also lifts up the real-life inspiration for two new characters: Issac Cole and Mrs. Ellen Parker Barrington.
“...when you’re part of the aristocracy that built your way in, instead of inherited your way in, certain things are considered real work, and certain things are considered frivolous.”
Guest: SHARON D. JOHNSON, Ph.D.
In addition to being a Script and Story Consultant for the PBS drama series MASTERPIECE, Sharon D. Johnson, Ph.D. is a depth psychologist, screenwriter (WGAW), journalist, and scholar of television, film, and African American arts, literature, and culture. Sharon has joined us on Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters in previous podcasts for discussions about SANDITON (Episode 32 is the #1 all-time download), and THE WOMAN KING. A graduate of Barnard College, Johnson holds an MA in Media Studies from the New School, and earned an MA and PhD in depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute.
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THE FORSYTES
THE FORSYTES, MASTERPIECE (PBS)
In THE FORSYTES, writer/creator Debbie Horsfield (POLDARK) reimagines the trials and triumphs of a wealthy Victorian stockbroking family in the years leading up to the original novels and stories gathered in author John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga. The first season begins as a prequel set in the 1870s, inspired by Galsworthy’s novels.
By the 1880s, the Forsyte generations find themselves torn between tradition, duty, reputation, and the personal pursuit of happiness and freedom.
A second season of THE FORSYTES is expected (release date is TBA).
More information on the official MASTERPIECE webpage
Art Imitates Life and History in THE FORSYTES
JOHN GALSWORTHY and JO FORSYTE
In 1932, English author and playwright John Galsworthy (1865-1933) was awarded a Nobel Prize “for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga.” Three novels tell the story of three generations of an upper middle-class English family as the 19th century comes to a close, and the 20th century comes into view. The Man of Property was released in 1906, In Chancery followed in 1920, and To Let in 1921. There were also short stories featuring the Forsyte family in between the novels: “Indian Summer of a Forsyte” (1918), and “Awakening” (1920).
Galsworthy was born in Surrey, England. His solicitor father John, Sr’s family made their fortune in property. The elder John enjoyed books, theater and opera, but repressed his own feelings as was the expectation in Victorian times. This made an impression on his son John Jr. The young John Galsworthy was educated at Harrow and New College, Oxford with the intention of becoming a solicitor like his father.
Like Young Jolyon Forsyte who abandons the family business for art, writing was Galsworthy’s passion.
Danny Griffin (Jo Fosyte). Portrait of John Galsworthy (1905) by Georg Sauter (1866-1937)
ADA GALSWORTHY and IRENE FORSYTE
Millie Gibson (Irene). Portrait of Ada Galsworthy (1897) by Georg Sauter (1866-1937)
John Galsworthy had a love affair with Ada (Pearson) Galsworthy who was in an abusive marriage with his cousin, Major Arthur Galsworthy. The Soames-Irene story in The Forsyte Saga is based on the Arthur-Ada Galsworthy marriage. Ada left her husband in 1902.
John and Ada married in 1905 after John Sr’s death. The complete trilogy of novels about the Forsyte family was published as The Forsyte Saga in 1922, John Galsworthy’s book dedication reads:
TO MY WIFE:
I DEDICATE THE FORSYTE SAGA IN ITS ENTIRETY,
BELIEVING IT TO BE OF ALL MY WORKS THE LEAST
UNWORTHY OF ONE WITHOUT WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT,
SYMPATHY AND CRITICISM I COULD NEVER HAVE
BECOME EVEN SUCH A WRITER AS I AM.
Biographical source: “John Galsworthy (1867-1933): Power, Property and Utopia in ‘The Forsyte Saga’” by Dr Gail Cunningham, Emeritus Professor of English, Kingston University, Surrey (March 21, 2016)
ISAAC COLE and CHRISTIAN FREDERICK COLE
THE FORSYTES series creator’s inspiration for Isaac Cole (Owen Igiehon), in-house lawyer for Forsyte & Co and young Jolyon’s best friend, is Christian Frederick Cole (1852-1885), the first Black African scholar at Oxford University (1873), and the UK’s first Black African to practice English law (1884).
Christian Frederick Cole was from Waterloo, Sierra Leone. He came to Oxford as a non-collegiate student after attending the Fourth Bay College in Freeborn, Sierra Leone. He graduated in 1876 with a fourth-class honors degree before being accepted into the University College, a position he held until 1880. Though very popular at Oxford, the only existing images of Christian Frederick Cole are unfortunately caricatures by students that are close to parody and Black stereotypes.
Cole returned to Sierra Leone but could not find work and came back to the UK where he trained as a barrister and practiced law in the English court. He traveled to Zanzibar to practice law where he died of smallpox in 1885 at the age of 33.
Source: Pamela Roberts, founder and director of Black Oxford Stories in the UK, gives tours, lectures and has written extensively about the history of Black students at Oxford University, especially Christian Frederick Cole.
Ellen Parker Barrington and Sarah Parker Redmond
Josette Simon, OBE (Mrs. Ellen Parker Barrington) and Sarah Parker Remond (1865)
Anti-slavery lecturer, physician and activist for abolition and women’s suffrage Sarah Parker Remond is the inspiration for the character Ellen Parker Barrington (Josette Simon, OBE) who’s described as originally from Jamaica and the widow of an English industrialist who uses her wealth and influence to better the lives of unfortunate women.
Sarah Parker Remond was born in Salem, Massachusetts to free-born parents, both entrepreneurs. Sarah joined her older brother, internationally recognized abolitionist Charles Lenox Remond on the lecture circuit for the abolitionist movement in New England and gained prominence as a lecturer for William Lloyd Garrison’s anti-slavery society. She also supported women’s suffrage. Remond traveled to the UK on her own and lectures to anti slavery groups in Liverpool, Dublin, Ireland, and Scotland. Frederick Douglass joined her abroad on the lecture circuit. Remond decided to remain in the UK during the Civil War to encourage support for the Union’s Confederate trade blockade ad raise money for American freedmen.
After the Civil War she moved to Florence, Italy to study medicine, and later married Lazarro Pintor, a businessman. Remond relocated to Rome and practiced medicine. Two of her sisters joined her in Rome where they all lived together as part of the American expatriate community until Sarah Parker Remond’s death in 1894.
Biographical source: Massachusetts Historical Society