King of Infinite Space

[Stephen and Jane at the theatre] [Before the play] Stephen Jane (they discuss music: Stephen favours Wagner; Jane favours Brahms. Stephen is talking about Brahms...) (critically, dismissively) Poor orchestration, overly romantic, Wagner despised him. (defending Brahms) The feeling was mutual. What? (still defending Brahms) - Brahms despised Wagner. Well you can't compare the two. For one thing the... (Jane feels they should stop arguing) - Stephen! Yes? Hello. Hello. (Stephen falls) Are you alright? (getting up) I'm fine. [SHAKESPEARE: Hamlet, King of Denmark] Hamlet Hamlet's Courtiers Denmark's a prison. Then is the world one. A goodly one; in which there are many confines, wards and dungeons. Denmark being o' of the worst. We think not so, my Lord. Why then, 'tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so: to me it is a prison. Why then your ambition makes it one; 'tis too narrow for your mind. Oh God, I could be bounded in a nut shell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams. Stephen Jane [they leave the theatre...] (they walk a little way, Stephen talking about Physics but trying to be romantic - but Jane remembers that she has left her bag in the theatre. What are you thinking? I was...thinking about Einstein and relativity. (as if to say, 'well that is too difficult for me...') Oh! and stars (as if to say, 'well that is also too difficult for me...') Oh! (seductively) It's possible for a perfect star to collapse into nothingness. If it's a perfect sphere then it can collapse and become infinitely dense, so dense that everything is pulled down into nothing. But the conditions have to be right. What conditions? If it is a perfect sphere, if the place be very moving, if the evening's very beautiful, the conditions have to be ideal. It's possible for the pull of gravity to stop everything escaping. Everything in nothing.... (they move more close to each other) (Just at this moment Jane misses her bag) Oh no!