The Frozen Deep- A play by Wilkie Collins (1824-1889)

                                            The Charles Dickens connection 

Acting obsessed him ( Dickens). He supported actors experiencing financial hard times and even dreamed of great actor Macready as his desirable double. John Glavin. 

The play referred to here was . 'The Frozen Deep'  written by Wilkie Collins in 1853 with a certain input from Charles Dickens:  Dickens also played one of the leading roles, that of Richard Wardour. Collins and Dickens had been literary associates and friends from 1851. Dickens expert, Michael Slater went as far as to describe this play as a "melodrama expressly written for Dickens and his amateurs."SLATER 

And the play was based on true events: In 1845 Captain Sir  John Franklin of the Erebus accompanied by the Terror sailed from Greenhithe, Kent, to The Arctic in a bid to discover the north west passage through the icebergs and hazardous coast and islands off Greenland to reach the Pacific. The expedition ended in tragic failure, and in 1854 it was  officially accepted that all 129 men that took part were dead. 

The ships -equipped with steam engines,propellers,and reinforced hulls to try to force their way through ice.They had a 25 horsepower capacity, considered to be an incredible feat at the time, but the modern day icebreaker has a capacity of 40,000. PALIN They carried enough supplies for  at least three years, including a huge amount of tin foods, gallons of lemon juice to ward off scurvy, smaller boats,tents, There were also vast libraries on each ships library, equipment for plays,  along with musical instruments. 

 After a relatively promising start, the ships got trapped by pack ice in the Winter of 1846 off the coast of King William Island, north west of Hudson Bay. And they were to go little further. Pack ice continually shifts with a great deal of noise and can damage ships.The psychological pressure on the sailors on board must have been horrendous. The Summer months did not warm up enough to release the ships. The tinned food may have been contaminated with botulism, perhaps induced lead poisoning. The lemon juice lost its vitamin C content so the scourge of scurvy began. Captain Franklin died along with leading officers. Seems that some men left to form a camp away from the ships.A large group took a smaller boat full of supplies which they dragged across the ice, walking south trying to find settlement. A major problem was that  physical exertion, especially in wearing large amounts of clothing, leads to sweating, which in turn brings on hypothermia. 

Some written statements by those who took part were hidden in cairns. Later conversations with Inuit people hunting in the area confirmed how desperate the plight of those involved in the expedition. Some trading took place with native people for seal meat. Skeletons of the dead men have been subsequently found. In 2014, the wreck of the Erebus was discovered, in 2017, the wreck of the Terror. Both were submerged. 

Dickens and Collins took an interest in the plight of Captain Franklin and his men. Dickens supported Lady Franklin in her tireless work to campaign for search parties to be launched, and even to sponsor her own rescue missions. When Arctic explorer Doctor James Rae, who embarked on two search expeditions for survivors of the Erebus and the Terror, suggested that some of the sailors may have even resorted to cannibalism , Dickens was livid. In two articles, both called 'The Lost Arctic Voyages' published on December 2nd and December 9th 1854, he deplored the notion, making some quite scathing comments about Dr Rae, and the Inuit people that Rae had conversed with. His view of native people would be strongly challenged now. DICKENS  Latest research indicate that there were instance of cannibalism. CBC webpage

'The Frozen Deep' is not great drama.Being fair, it may not have been written with a mass audience in mind but still appears like a story told in a pub.  A young lady,Clara Burnham, ends a relationship with one seaman- Richard Wardour - and falls for another nautical chap, Francis ('Frank') Aldersley. Clara is also blessed or cursed with second sight that she developed whilst staying in the Highlands, and liable to tumble into trance states with little warning. Wardour is embittered by Clara's rejection . Both of the two men just happen to be on the same Arctic mission, albeit on different ship -the Wanderer and the Sea-mew  which are trapped in the ice. Due to a rather clumsy plot device Wardour realises that Aldersley is his love rival, and ensures that they are both on the same mission to go through the snow trying to seek a human settlement. Aldersley falls ill, and Wardour agrees to look after him, the rest of the party leave on an excursion.  Wardour realises that he could easily kill Aldersley and blame the harsh conditions that they are stuck in. He is tempted to do so,but is suddenly struck by how helpless and feeble Aldersley is. Wardour's nature transforms and from then on cares for Aldersley, ensuring that  they both survive. They live to meet Clara again but Wardour expires soon afterwards. 

Though Collins is credited as the playwright, there is something Dickensian about the plot. Dickens was  motivated by the force of some instinctive conscience when viewing society rather than furthering an ideology. Condemning people to live in the worst slums such as the Tom All Alone in 'Bleak House' or bullying hungry children, are simply 'wrong' in his view, without much analysis or explanation. Just as Little Nell's grandfather gambling away their meagre amount of cash when they are traipsing through England in danger of being left cold and without food, is also 'wrong'. Richard Wardour becomes heroic to Dickens because he can see his way through his (implied) sexual frustration and jealousy, and act in a thoroughly decent fashion towards a fellow human who needs his care.The change in  Wardour's  nature is almost like a sudden religious conversion.The play ends with another Arctic survivor, Craysford, delivering the following tribute to Wardour .

"The loss is ours," he said. "The gain is his. He has won the greatest of all conquests- the conquest of himself. And he has died in the moment of victory. Not one of us here but may live to envy his glorious death." 

The theme of self sacrifice would be revisited with the character of Sydney Carton in 'The Tale of Two Cities'.

And Dickens took to the part of Wardour with a passion: The first performance of 'The Frozen Deep' was held on 6th January 1857, Charley Dickens's 20th birthday. Charley starred alongside his father. Wilkie Collins played the role of Addersley. Three further performances took place on the 8th, 12th, and 14th January 1857. All were in front of a small invited audience. And accompanying them was Francesco Berger, who had composed and played an  overture and incidental music for the play. Dickens also starred in another  (private ) performance with Queen Victoria in attendance at The Gallery of Illustration, Regent Street, on 4th August 1857. 

On 21st, 22nd, and 23rd August 1857 Dickens performed in  public stagings of 'The Frozen Deep'  at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, where he met the actress Ellen Ternan who was starring in the production with members of her own family WILKIE COLLINS INFO .A close relationship developed that lasted until Dickens's death in 1870. It is now generally accepted that they were lovers . Certainly meeting Ellen seemed to bring on Dickens's estrangement from his wife Catherine. He closed down his magazine 'Household Words' and decided to embark on a second career as a public reader of his own work. TOMALIN  Wilkie Collins staged public performances of 'The Frozen Deep' in 1866 with professional casting. The critics were kind but audience interest was not forthcoming. WILKIE COLLINS INFO

Sir John Franklin's expedition resulted in a tragic loss of life. A critical attack on the whole enterprise can be found in The Victorian Web piece written by Professor Landlow below. In 1866 a statue was erected in London in  memory of Captain Sir John Franklin, and commemorative plaques list the 129 names of those who were lost. So far, I have not been able to trace any other performances of 'The Frozen Deep' after 1866. 

The above blogpost was inspired by my second visit to the Charles Dickens House exhibition 'Mutual Friends : The Adventures of Charles Dickens &  Wilkie Collins , which runs until 21st April 2024. 

 Pleased to welcome all visitors this blog from around the world. Lets hope that 2024 will improve and that these ghastly wars will cease. 

Michael Bleak 

29th January 2024 

BOOKS

'Dickens' , Peter Ackroyd, Quality Paperbook Direct, 1990

'Miscellaneous Papers from 'The Morning Chronicle', 'The Daily News', 'The Examiner', 'Household Words', 'All the Year Round' etc ' Charles DICKENS , Chapman & Hall, 1941  

 'Dickens and the Theatre' essay by John GLAVIN, from 'The Cambridge Companion to Charles Dickens' edited by John O. Jordan. Cambridge University Press, 2001. 

'Charles Dickens -His Tragedy and Triumph' Edgar JOHNSON, Penguin Books , 1976

'Erebus the Story of a Ship' , Michael PALIN , W.F.Howes Ltd., 2019 

'Dickens and his Women' Michael SLATER, JM Dent & Sons, 1983 

'Charles Dickens A Life' , Claire TOMALIN Viking via Penguin Books, 2011. 

Web Articles 

'Cannibals on the Northern Ice: Nationalist Ideals, the Big Lie, and the Franklin Expedition',George P LANDOW,  Victorian Web here

'The Franklin Expedition 1845- 1859 ' ,Kathryn CASSIDY , Victorian Web here

'Franklin Expedition to the Arctic included cannibalism researchers say', CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company ) webpage 31st July 2015 here 

Wilkie Collins 

The Frozen Deep on line text 

Wilkie Collins Info  webpage on 'The Frozen Deep'. 

The New Magdalene  Further post from this blog about Wilkie Collins's novel from 1873

Youtube 

Arctic Tomb(Franklin expedition documentary) Good introduction to the Franklin Expedition with a wide selection of historians interviewed.From 2001, so misses the discovery of the wrecks and other later  developments . Accessed on 26th January 2024. 

 With the meltdown of the British Library computer system, I have not been able to consult as much source material that would have liked . As usual, any errors or schoolboy howlers are the responsibility of the author of this piece, and can not be blamed on any other source that has been cited. 

OTHER BLOGS BY THIS WRITER 

A Burnt Ship  17th century war & literature 

World War 2 poetry 

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