Previous
Don Caspar
A young, confident, brash American scientist working as a researcher at Cambridge University. Watson’s dreams of renown and fame—and his intense desire to prove himself to the world—spur him to build model after model and develop theory after theory as he runs the “race” towards the discovery of DNA’s structure. Watson approaches Maurice Wilkins after a conference in Italy and asks to come work with him, but when Wilkins rejects Watson, he joins a research team at Cambridge instead. The older but demurer Francis Crick becomes his research partner, and Watson sees the two of them together as a force of nature capable not just of winning the “race” Watson believes they’re in, but changing the world entirely. Watson is shameless in his desire to win, and even preys upon Maurice Wilkins’ good-faith gesture of sharing Photograph 51 with him. While Watson and Crick credit Wilkins with helping them to discover the structure of DNA and enabling them to at last build a correct model, they underplay and overlook Rosalind Franklin’s role in their discovery. Watson is vocally critical of and cruel toward Rosalind, making fun of her demeanor and physique in sexist, antisemitic terms throughout the action. A self-absorbed, chaotic, and unpredictable young man, Watson provides much of the comic relief in the play—even amid his cruel treatment of Rosalind, his shameless competitiveness, and his self-aggrandizement.
James Watson Quotes in Photograph 51
The Photograph 51 quotes below are all either spoken by James Watson or refer to James Watson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Photograph 51
Quotes
WATSON. But she wasn’t [in the laboratory,] was she. She was too busy snow-shoeing and ... enjoying things like ... nature and small woodland creatures.
CRICK. I mean, didn’t she feel that something was at her back, a force greater than she was ...
WATSON. You mean us?
CRICK. No. I mean fate.
WATSON. What’s the difference?
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
WATSON. It’s just incredibly exciting.
WILKINS. What is?
WATSON. To be born at the right time. There’s an element of fate to it, don’t you think? And I don’t believe in fate.
CRICK. She’s really that bad?
WILKINS. Worse.
WATSON. The Jews really can be very ornery.
WILKINS. You’re telling me.
WATSON. Is she quite overweight?
WILKINS. Why do you ask?
CRICK. James is many things but subtle is not one of them. […] You see, he imagines that she’s overweight. The kind of woman who barrels over you with the force of a train. […]
CASPAR. (To the audience.) To Watson and Crick, the shape of something suggested the most detailed analysis of its interior workings. As though, by looking at something you could determine how it came to be ... how it gets through each day.
WATSON. Do tell us what our little ray of sunshine is keeping busy with these days.
CRICK. (Actually worried.) Wilkins, old boy. Are you sure you’re quite all right?
WATSON. Anything new on her docket? If you don’t mind sharing, that is.
WILKINS. I honestly couldn’t give two damns. I’m happy to tell you all I can remember.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
CASPAR. Watson and Crick got hold of the paper Rosalind had written. It was confidential.
CRICK. It wasn’t confidential. Another scientist at Cambridge gave it to us. […]
WILKINS. Well it wasn’t published, that’s for sure. And it included [….] information that became critical to your work.
WATSON. I’m sure we would have gotten there sooner or later, even without it.
WILKINS. So would we have done, with the benefit of your work. You had ours but we didn’t have yours!
WATSON. There was no “we” where you were concerned. […]
GOSLING. Anyway, it doesn’t matter how they got the paper, only that they got it.
CASPAR. And that Rosalind didn’t know she should be in a hurry.
GOSLING. There’s no science that can explain it. Loneliness. […]
CASPAR. Rosalind? (She clutches her stomach.)
WATSON. It works, Francis. It works. (A very long beat.)
CRICK. It’s ...
WATSON. I can’t believe it.
CRICK. It’s life unfolding, right in front of us. (Rosalind doubles over in her chair, and gasps.)
CASPAR. Rosalind?
WILKINS. It’s the loneliest pursuit in the world. Science. Because there either are answers or there aren’t.
ROSALIND. If I’d only ...
GOSLING. Been more careful around the beam.
WATSON. Collaborated.
CRICK. Been more open, less wary. Less self-protective.
CASPAR. Or more wary, more self-protective.
WATSON. Been a better scientist.
CASPAR. Been willing to take more risks, make models, go forward without the certainty of proof.
CRICK. Been friendlier.
GOSLING. Or born at another time.
CRICK. Or born a man.
Get the entire Photograph 51 LitChart as a printable PDF.
James Watson Quotes in Photograph 51
The Photograph 51 quotes below are all either spoken by James Watson or refer to James Watson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Photograph 51
Quotes
WATSON. But she wasn’t [in the laboratory,] was she. She was too busy snow-shoeing and ... enjoying things like ... nature and small woodland creatures.
CRICK. I mean, didn’t she feel that something was at her back, a force greater than she was ...
WATSON. You mean us?
CRICK. No. I mean fate.
WATSON. What’s the difference?
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
WATSON. It’s just incredibly exciting.
WILKINS. What is?
WATSON. To be born at the right time. There’s an element of fate to it, don’t you think? And I don’t believe in fate.
CRICK. She’s really that bad?
WILKINS. Worse.
WATSON. The Jews really can be very ornery.
WILKINS. You’re telling me.
WATSON. Is she quite overweight?
WILKINS. Why do you ask?
CRICK. James is many things but subtle is not one of them. […] You see, he imagines that she’s overweight. The kind of woman who barrels over you with the force of a train. […]
CASPAR. (To the audience.) To Watson and Crick, the shape of something suggested the most detailed analysis of its interior workings. As though, by looking at something you could determine how it came to be ... how it gets through each day.
WATSON. Do tell us what our little ray of sunshine is keeping busy with these days.
CRICK. (Actually worried.) Wilkins, old boy. Are you sure you’re quite all right?
WATSON. Anything new on her docket? If you don’t mind sharing, that is.
WILKINS. I honestly couldn’t give two damns. I’m happy to tell you all I can remember.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
CASPAR. Watson and Crick got hold of the paper Rosalind had written. It was confidential.
CRICK. It wasn’t confidential. Another scientist at Cambridge gave it to us. […]
WILKINS. Well it wasn’t published, that’s for sure. And it included [….] information that became critical to your work.
WATSON. I’m sure we would have gotten there sooner or later, even without it.
WILKINS. So would we have done, with the benefit of your work. You had ours but we didn’t have yours!
WATSON. There was no “we” where you were concerned. […]
GOSLING. Anyway, it doesn’t matter how they got the paper, only that they got it.
CASPAR. And that Rosalind didn’t know she should be in a hurry.
GOSLING. There’s no science that can explain it. Loneliness. […]
CASPAR. Rosalind? (She clutches her stomach.)
WATSON. It works, Francis. It works. (A very long beat.)
CRICK. It’s ...
WATSON. I can’t believe it.
CRICK. It’s life unfolding, right in front of us. (Rosalind doubles over in her chair, and gasps.)
CASPAR. Rosalind?
WILKINS. It’s the loneliest pursuit in the world. Science. Because there either are answers or there aren’t.
ROSALIND. If I’d only ...
GOSLING. Been more careful around the beam.
WATSON. Collaborated.
CRICK. Been more open, less wary. Less self-protective.
CASPAR. Or more wary, more self-protective.
WATSON. Been a better scientist.
CASPAR. Been willing to take more risks, make models, go forward without the certainty of proof.
CRICK. Been friendlier.
GOSLING. Or born at another time.
CRICK. Or born a man.
