Conquest

In Short

Set against the backdrop of the First World War, Marie C. Stopes's three-act play follows Gordon Hyde, a lame New Zealand sheep farmer deemed useless for military service. Inspired by a mysterious woodland vision, Gordon conceives a revolutionary international peace plan to disarm aggressor nations permanently. He sells his family farm and travels to London alongside the supportive English visitor Loveday. There, the pair navigate high society, secure access to a British Cabinet Minister, and ultimately expose an undercover German agent attempting to commit political murder.

The Story

Act I opens on a New Zealand sheep station in 1915, where wartime recruitment exposes deep personal frustrations. Gordon Hyde smarts from being rejected by a visiting recruitment officer because of a permanent limp caused by a fallen tree. His self-assured love interest, Nora Lee, openly dismisses his worth, compounding his despair. Later, alone in the twilight after the others depart, Gordon experiences a mystical woodland encounter. An apparent wood goddess—who is actually the compassionate English visitor Loveday draped in a white veil—chants that a man's brain must conceive a grand plan to permanently disarm aggressor nations and protect the peaceful world. This ethereal encounter sparks Gordon's determination to formulate an ironclad international peace framework.

Act II takes place a few months later at the Hyde homestead. Tragedies and business shifts alter the landscape when Gordon's brother Robert goes to war and dies, leaving Gordon sole owner of the unencumbered sheep station. Meanwhile, a slick traveling salesman named Varlie circulates through the region selling modern machinery and goods. Concurrently, an intelligent old Maori man named Roto guards a sacred green jade hei-tiki containing a secret, undetectable poison distilled from karaka kernels. Varlie displays a suspicious, intense curiosity about this lethal charm. Eager to advance his political mission and spurned by Nora's indifference, Gordon decides to sell his station to fund his journey. Backed entirely by Loveday, who shares his grand vision, Gordon resolves to take his treatise straight to the heart of the British Empire.

Act III shifts to the lavish London drawing-room of the Duchess of Rainshire. Gordon and Loveday endeavor to pitch his international peace framework to political leaders. Simultaneously, Varlie reappears disguised as an American clergyman named the Reverend Dr. Chapman, ostensibly collecting charity funds while secretly serving as an undercover German agent. Varlie infiltrates the private alcove where a key British Cabinet Minister is relaxing. As Varlie stealthily laces the Minister's coffee with the deadly karaka poison extracted from the jade artifact, Loveday spots the act. She abruptly spills the cup, tears off Varlie's false beard to reveal his true face, and alerts a security officer named Smithers. Backed by Gordon's recognition and concrete evidence, the authorities arrest Varlie, successfully thwarting the assassination plot and triumphantly validating Gordon's mission.

How It Unfolds

The military rejection Gordon suffers a bitter personal blow when a visiting recruitment officer turns him away from military service because of a permanent limp. This painful rejection causes him to feel like useless lumber in both his country's eyes and the judgment of Nora, the woman he loves.

The woodland vision Left alone in the gathering dusk, Gordon receives a nocturnal visit from a figure resembling a luminous wood goddess. This apparition, who is actually Loveday in disguise, chants a poetic call for a visionary thinker to devise a foolproof international peace framework.

The station sale Following his brother Robert's tragic death in the war, Gordon decides to liquidate his sheep station entirely. Despite local warnings and Nora's bitter protests, he sells his unencumbered freehold property to finance his urgent voyage to London.

The disguised agent In London, the manipulative salesman Varlie reappears under the false identity of an American clergyman named Dr. Chapman, wearing a fake beard. He infiltrates elite social circles and gains access to high-ranking political spaces while pursuing hostile foreign agendas.

The poisoned cup Using the lethal karaka seed poison originally obtained from Roto's sacred Maori hei-tiki in New Zealand, Varlie attempts to assassinate a vital British Cabinet Minister. Loveday spots the stealthy crime in progress and intervenes dramatically to stop the poisoning.

The dramatic unmasking Loveday rips away Varlie's false beard to reveal his true face to the Duchess and the authorities. Detective Smithers immediately arrests Varlie, securing the safety of the state and triumphantly validating Gordon's life-changing crusade.

The People

Gordon Hyde is a strong, patriotic New Zealand sheep farmer who desperately wants to serve his country and win Nora's affection. His primary obstacles are a physical limp that bars him from military enlistment and Nora's cold dismissal. Through Loveday's inspiration and his brother's death, Gordon transforms from a despairing outcast into an empowered visionary dedicated to global peace.

Nora Lee is a pretty, self-assured young woman who values her independence and rejects Gordon's romantic advances. She serves as an emotional obstacle and critic, ultimately ending up grief-stricken over Robert's death and resistant to Gordon's ambitions.

Loveday is an intelligent, compassionate English visitor who champions Gordon's worth. She wants to see his peace initiative succeed and actively guides him, shedding her initial observer role to become his courageous partner who unmasks the villain.

Varlie, also known as the disguised Reverend Dr. Chapman, is a cunning, opportunistic salesman and foreign agent. He wants financial gain and political sabotage, using gadgets, false identities, and a stolen Maori poison to achieve his ends. He ultimately fails when exposed.

Roto is an intelligent, traditional Maori man who works on the farm. He guards the sacred green jade hei-tiki containing the secret karaka poison, inadvertently supplying Varlie with the weapon of destruction.

Robert Hyde is Gordon's hardworking brother who enlists in the war and dies in action, altering the estate's ownership.

In Its Own Voice

Expressing his dedication to conservation and national duty during wartime, Gordon instructs his farm hand about supplies:

Tinned stuff is extra valuable nowadays. It can be sent to the front. We have time to think out here on these hills. I have thought till my head reeled and not yet found out what big things we can do for our country, but the little duties are clear enough, and one of ’em is not to be wasteful.

When recounting the lethal properties of his sacred cultural artifact to an inquisitive visitor, Roto explains the dark history of the charm:

Every New Zealand Pakeha knows karaka seeds, very bad poison. But kills too quick, too ugly, legs all stiff anyhow--all know that karaka poison. But this great chief took part of karaka seed-poison, mixed with magic, and then it kills more slowly in one, two hours after, like as if the man died of himself.

Dismissing the endless streams of well-meaning schemes arriving in the capital, the hostess offers a witty assessment:

London simply swarms with panaceas and their parents.

What It's Really About

The play explores the intersection of individual duty and global politics during the First World War. It argues that intellectual innovation and preventative legal structures are just as vital to a nation's survival as physical combat on the front lines. Stopes examines how ordinary citizens can transcend personal rejection and physical limitation to enact monumental structural change. Furthermore, the narrative contrasts authentic idealism and creative nation-building with opportunistic commercialism, espionage, and foreign treachery. It questions how peaceful nations can permanently bind aggressive powers through ironclad international law backed by collective force, ensuring a global future free from the terror of sudden militaristic onslaught.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in early twentieth-century drama, historical wartime literature, or the diverse creative output of Marie C. Stopes will find this play a fascinating cultural artifact. Reading it feels like stepping into a unique theatrical hybrid that effortlessly blends domestic New Zealand pastoral scenes with high-stakes international political thriller elements. Modern readers must navigate period-specific colonial attitudes, occasional dialect quirks, and the earnest, unabashedly didactic tone characteristic of 1910s message plays. However, those who appreciate ambitious thematic storytelling, strong female agency through characters like Loveday, and a bizarre yet compelling combination of indigenous Maori cultural lore with European espionage will be richly rewarded. What stays with the reader long after finishing is the striking image of a rejected farmer transforming personal despair into a visionary blueprint for global peace, alongside the thrilling, theatrical unmasking of a disguised villain in a glittering London drawing-room.