The ARTx3 Campus is preparing to raise the curtain on the beloved classic The Secret Garden for its first theater production of 2024. Here, we take a closer look at the background of the story.
The Secret Garden reflects author Frances Hodgson Burnett’s philosophical outlook on life. Its profound message led it to become the first serialized children’s book to appear in an adult magazine, proving Burnett’s success at speaking to all age groups. Illustrated by Scott Williams, the story was first published in “The American Magazine” in serialized form between 1910 and 1911.
In The Secret Garden, the events of Mary Lennox’s early childhood are based on those of Burnett's own. Both Mary and Burnett experienced the death of their parents, as well as a great sense of dislocation upon being taken from the country of their birth to one utterly foreign to them.
Burnett was born in Manchester, England. Her father passed away when she was only 5 years old, leading to a decline in the family’s fortunes. This decline was only worsened by a severe depression in Manchester brought about by the American Civil War. The Hodgsons, facing impoverishment in England, immigrated to America when Burnett was 15. There, they traveled to New Market, a small town near Knoxville, Tennessee, in search of a wealthy American uncle who had promised to support them. That help never materialized, however, and the family was forced to take shelter in an abandoned log cabin.
Young Frances decided to pursue writing at the age of only 15 to supplement her family’s meager income. She became the family's chief means of support, writing five or six stories a month at a time when it was exceedingly rare for a woman to have a career.
The themes of The Secret Garden were deeply influenced by the philosophies of the times in which Burnett was writing. Burnett was influenced by the ideas of the New Thought, theosophy, and Christian Science movements, which were enjoying their greatest popularity at the turn of the 20th century. Proponents of the New Thought also extolled the power of positive thinking and held it to be a form of communion with the divine spirit. They believed one could cure oneself of illness through this kind of magical thinking, or change the character of one's fortunes. She spun these ideas into a unique worldview—Burnett held that the Christian god was a kind of unified mind or spirit, with whom any person might commune. She believed this spirit to be present everywhere, and especially in nature.
Such ideas had a profound influence on the writing of The Secret Garden — particularly as the inspiration for what Colin and Mary call “magic.” Burnett wrote the novel shortly after returning to England in 1898, where she had rented a country house and absorbed herself in her passion for gardening. At that time, a walled-in rose garden served as her outdoor workroom and was the place where she wrote the better part of The Secret Garden.
Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday Jan. 25, Friday, Jan. 26, Saturday, Jan. 27, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, in the Arts & Science Center's Catherine M. Bellamy Theater, 701 S. Main St. in Pine Bluff.
Tickets are $13 for ARTx3 members and seniors (ages 65 and older), $18 for nonmembers, and $10 for students (with ID). Purchase tickets online here or call 870-536-3375. Tickets my also be purchased in person during visitor hours or before the shows.
The production is sponsored by Relyance Bank.
