First, it's important to lay the foundation of understanding about the book itself. The novel, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, was originally published in a serial format. The story was divided into ten monthly issues and published in The American Magazine from November 1910-August 1911. After all the issues had been released, they were compiled and re-published as a single novel in August of 1911 by the Frederick A. Stokes Company.
Even in its initial serial run, The Secret Garden was accompanied by illustrations (in the serial run, they were done by artist J. Scott Williams). This has been a recurring theme with re-publications of the novel. In 1962, a version of the book was published along with the oil painting illustrations of Tasha Tudor. Inga Moore released her abridged version of the novel in 2008 along with her own illustrations.
Lily (Lorna Baxter) in OSU's Production of The Secret Garden.
Burnett lived in the city of Kent in England for a number of years, and she has often cited her visits to the local Buile Hill Park as inspirations for the novel. Buile Hill Park is located on an estate called Maytham Hill, and this is also likely the inspiration for Misselthwaite Manor in the book. In addition, Burnett herself actually tend a rather large garden, including a rose garden.
The themes of rejuvenation and physical and mental recovery through positive thinking and being in nature do not come solely from Burnett's love of gardens. She was also influenced by the ideas of Christian Science movement during the 1880s. In Christian Science, an important tenet is the belief in healing oneself through prayer and positive thought, and this can be seen reflected in the novel when Dickon, Mary, and Colin use a "magic chant" to heal Colin of his psychosomatic paraplegia.
The musical's script and lyrics were written by Marsha Norman, while the music was written by Lucy Simon. It premiered in West Virginia in 1989, where it was put on by the Virginia Stage Company. In 1991, the show opened on Broadway, where it ran for two years, having over 700 performances. Since then, the show has also been produced in Sydney in 1995, and twice on the West End (once in 2001 and again in 2016). At the 1991 Tony Awards, it won Best Book of a Musical, Best Scenic Design, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical (for Daisy Eagan, who played Mary). At the time, Eagan was the youngest person to receive the award, at just 11 years old.
Mary (Elliette Barlow) and Dickon (Jacob Hungerford) in OSU's Production of The Secret Garden.
When the novel was adapted into a musical, the story did go through a few key changes. Probably the most pronounced one is that, in the novel, there is far more focus placed on Mary and Colin. Archibald makes appearances in the novel, but he is not one of the central characters like he is in the show. Additionally, the memories/ghosts of Mary's parents and Lily are likewise not focused on like they are in the show.
In the musical, Archibald has a leading role, with a comparable amount of songs to Mary or Colin. Lily also frequently appears and has many songs of her own. There are substantial segments of the show in which Mary and Colin do not appear onstage while Archibald and Lily sing their songs. Mary's parents also appear a fair amount of times throughout the show, but their roles are much smaller in the novel.
Another big change is the antagonistic role of Dr. Neville Craven in the play. There is a "Dr. Craven" in the novel, however he is only a distant cousin of Archibald. He is mentioned as being in line to inherit the manor if Colin were to die, but he still attends to him to the best of his abilities and does not seek to send Mary off to a boarding school or claim Misselthwaite for himself. In addition, there is no mention of his unrequited love for Lily nor his jealousy towards Arhibald being the object of Lily's affections like he does in the show.
Archibald (Dylan Lewis) and Dr. Neville Craven (Michael Eclevia) in OSU's Production of The Secret Garden.
A minor difference is that, in the novel, Lily's name is Lilias, and she was not sisters with Rose. Instead, she was the sister of Mary's father. She was still Arhibald's wife and the mother of Colin. This was likely done in an attempt to strengthen Lily's matrilineal connection to Mary through her mother.
As aforementioned, the novel focuses far more heavily on Mary and Colin than it does on the adult characters. As a result, we see a lot more of Mary and Colin in the early stages of their character arcs, where they are still more selfish and suffer from their developmental issues. We see their transformations happen in more detail. In the show, we don't spend quite as much time with them, and, therefore, we spend less time with them in their more bratty, early stages where they still haven't recovered from their respective developmental traumas yet.
Mary (Elliette Barlow and Colin (Natalie Harris) in OSU's Production of The Secret Garden.
In fact, the novel's extended time spent with Mary and Colin allows us to view their trauma and developmental problems a lot better than the show. The show still does focus on their mental and physical recoveries, but the focus is often shifted on the state of the garden, the songs of the servants, and, most prominently, how Archibald himself recovers from the loss of his wife.
In conclusion, although the story is largely the same one, there are a few big changes between the musical and novel that shift the focus of the narrative a fair amount.
Bibliography for this blog post
1. “Buile Hill Park.” Salford City Council, Gov.UK, www.salford.gov.uk/builehill.
2. Burnett, Frances Hodgson. “The Secret Garden.” The American Magazine, Nov. 1910, pp. 17–32.
3. Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. M. L. Kirk, 1911.
4. Norman, Marsha, and Lucy Simon. “The Secret Garden.” 1989.
4. Norman, Marsha, and Lucy Simon. “The Secret Garden.” 1989.
“Buile Hill Park.” Salford City Council, Gov.UK, www.salford.gov.uk/builehill.
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. “The Secret Garden.” The American Magazine, Nov. 1910, pp. 17–32.
“The Secret Garden.” Playbill, Playbill Inc, www.playbill.com/show/detail/4178/the-secret-garden.
5. “The Secret Garden.” Playbill, Playbill Inc, www.playbill.com/show/detail/4178/the-secret-garden.
“Buile Hill Park.” Salford City Council, Gov.UK, www.salford.gov.uk/builehill.
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. “The Secret Garden.” The American Magazine, Nov. 1910, pp. 17–32.
“The Secret Garden.” Playbill, Playbill Inc, www.playbill.com/show/detail/4178/the-secret-garden.
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