The Silver Box

The Silver Box is a powerful and bitter play. It is a criticism of the English legal system. In this play Galsworthy wants to show that justice has quite different meaning for the poor and the rich. In a fit of drunken mischief Jack Barthwick, the dissolute son of a rich member of the British Parliament Mr. John Barthwick, stole the purse of a woman. In a similar fit of drunken mischief Jones, the husband of the Bathwick's charwoman, stole a silver box and the same purse from the house of Mr. Barthwick.

The story is that on Easter Monday Jack Barthwick got terribly drunk and returned home late at night. He was trying to find the keyhole on the wrong side of the door. Jones also returned home late at night from a wine shop. He helped Jack to open the door. Jack invited him to have a drink. Both of them have a lot of wine. Meanwhile Jack went to sleep and Jones went on drinking and smoking. Jones was not in condition to distinguish between the right or wrong. While returning home, he took the silver cigarette-box as well as the purse with money.

In the morning a servant reported to Mr. Barthwick about the theft of the silver box and later on informed the police. A police officer went to the house of Jones to trace out the theft. Jones quarreled with the police official and he was arrested for stopping the police in the discharge of his official duty. Mr. Jones was also arrested. The police recovered the stolen goods from Jones' house. Jones and Mrs. Jones were accused of theft. Jones was produced before a magistrate and was tried for stealing the silver box as well as for assaulting a police officer. Mrs. Jones who was quite innocent, was also tried.

During the course of trial, it was found that Jones was out of job. Mrs. Jones was dismissed from service. The house in which they lived with their children was taken from them. When the case was in progress, Mr. Barthwick asked his solicitor, Roper to tell the magistrate that he did not want to pursue the case of theft. He expressed his desire that Jones might be tried simply for violence to the police officer. After a long discussion the magistrate set Mrs. Jones free and ordered one month's imprisonment with hard for Jones.

John Galsworthy. Strife

Birth

On 14^th August 1867. At Kingston Hill in Surrey, England, into an established wealthy family. Son of John and Blanche Bailey Galsworthy. His large Kingston upon Thames estate is now the site of three schools Marymount International, Rokeby Preparatory School, Holy Cross

Education

Attended Harrow and New College, Oxford, training as a barrister, was called to the bar in 1890. However, he was not keen to begin practicing law