Importance of the character of Cokeson in the play, "Justice".

Galsworthy, "The humanitarian moralist" is very careful about the delineation of his characters as he thinks that character is the most important element of his dramatic technique. According to him, character is the foundation of the plot. He feels that the plot is subservient to character. He opines, " The perfect dramatist rounds up his characters and facts within the ring fence of a dominant idea which fulfils the craving of his spirit..... Take care if character......with take care of themselves." At another place, he says, "The dramatist who hangs his characters to his plot, instead of hanging his plot to his characters is guilty of cardinal sin."



               Galsworthy draws characters from his observation of persons around him. "Justice", one of the most remarkable social tragedies and problem plays, is the exact specimen of this. In it, he also draws characters from common place like home, office, law court etc. "Justice" is the result of Galsworthy's grim experience when he visited the convict prison of Dartmoor in September, 1907. In this play, Cokeson plays a very important role to establish Galsworthy's tragic outlook on society.



              Cokeson is the man of "sixty, wearing spectacles, rather short, with a bald head and an honest pug-dog face." He is a man full of humanity, sympathy, a strong sense of justice, a timid impartiality and generosity. Cokeson is a law abiding and disciplined person. He says about himself ---- "I'm a plain man -- never set myself against authority." His honesty is shown in the 'Trial Scene', where he does not use any single word of his own, rather he quotes the exact words told by Ruth i. e. "It's a matter of life and death."



              Here in the play, "Justice", Cokeson plays the role of the chorus. He is the character who introduces the most important two characters of the play, Ruth and Falder. He acts as the mediator and connects the characters of the play with the audience or the reader. In this serious play, Cokeson is the only person who provides fun and humour. The chief source of his humour is the misuse of words and their wrong pronunciation. He uses the word 'eurotic' for 'neurotic'. He uses the Latin phrase "Quite compos", but originally it is "noncompos mentis". He also uses "sign quanonne" for "some qua non" and "prime facey" for "prima facie".



            Through  the character of Cokeson,  Galsworthy also shows the problems of the then society. Firstly, when Ruth comes to visit Falder, Cokeson firmly asserts, "It's all against the rules" and "we don't allow private callers here." And when Falder kisses Ruth, he says "This isn't right" and "It's an improper use of these premises." Here he shows the hard rules of the solicitors' office. Again, in Act IV, after the release of Falder from prison, when he comes to the office for a job, Cokeson requests to James that,  "I'm bound to tell you all about it. He's quite penitent. But there's prejudice against him...."Actually, Galsworthy here very authentically shows the problem of social and economic rehabilitation of the prisoners after their release from the jail.



             Thus, Cokeson's character is too important to avoid. Without Cokeson , the plot of the play is not build up and the theme is not established. He is the character who gives start to the play and it ends with his remark ---- "No one'll touch him now! Never again! He's safe with gentle Jesus." Though he is a round character and remains same from beginning to end  "under the stress of circumstances" (Skemp), Cokeson is an omnipotent character to fulfil Galsworthy's ambition.