The Ivory Door

"The Ivory Door" is a play by A. A. Milne. It is set in a fictional castle and the surrounding countryside, The play proceeds in three acts.

First Act

The first act (a prelude) to the play has the old king working alone in his private room when his young son, Perival, steps in. Perival and the king speak for a while of love, marriage, governing the kingdom, and the inevitability of death. For instance, the king disabuses Perival of the idea that he and the queen (Perival's mother) fell in love before they were married; the marriage was politically arranged and the two only grew fond of one another after they were married. Eventually the topic turns to the door behind a tapestry. Perival repeats that there are rumors that anyone who walks through the ivory door will be killed by the demons in the passage inside. The king replies that he has no knowledge of that as a matter of fact, because he has never been through the door and does not know anyone who ever has. He shows Perival the door and warns his son to not tamper with things beyond his understanding when he becomes king.

Second Act

The first full act of the play opens with Perival, now grown into a young man and having been crowned king upon his father's death, fretting over his upcoming marriage to Princess Lillia, the daughter of a king from a nearby land. Perival speaks to his sergeant-at-arms, Baram, of how many things he has learned and not learned, and how he fears he does not yet know enough to either be a good king or a good husband. Baram comforts the king, saying that what is really happening is that the king is nervous about his imminent marriage to a woman he has never met, and he should do something to distract himself before the event. King Perival decides to open and go through the ivory door, and Baram reluctantly agrees to the plan, but only after Perival agrees to return within three hours or be declared dead.

Behind the door, Perival finds a tunnel to a nearby river. Walking through the tunnel, Perival's fine clothing becomes ripped and dirty, but Perival himself is unhurt. He emerges into the bright sunlight near the river, and determines to walk back overland to the castle. Along the way, he is distracted by mummers and enjoys their entertainments as they are travelling to the castle to perform at the upcoming royal wedding. Perival's diversions are ended, however, when he hears the alarm bells from the castle and a crier announcing the death of the king. Perival returns to the castle but is not recognized because his royal clothes have become scratched and torn from the tunnel. When he claims to be the kind, he is called an impostor. When he protests that he went through the tunnel out of the ivory door, Baram calls him a "demon" and orders his arrest.

Princess Lillia confronts Baram in the throne room and demands to know why the king was arrested. Baram says that it was not the king, but rather a demon who had emerged from behind the ivory door to impersonate the king and lead the kingdom astray from its righteous path. Lillia is convinced that the stories about the ivory door are nonsense and before Baram can stop her, she opens the door and charges through.

Third Act

Lillia, now dirty and with her fine clothing torn, is thrown in to a dungeon cell along with Perival. They do not identify each other immediately, as they have never met, but soon realize that they are indeed the king and his bride-to-be. They do not embrace; instead, they spend a few minutes getting to know each other and wondering if there is any way out of their prediciament. They are eventually let out of the cell, and taken to the throne room, where Baram is standing before a large crowd. There is a long exchange in which Baram accuses Lillia and Perival of being demons from the ivory door, and Perival insists that there is nothing behind the door but a very ordinary passage. No one listens to Perival.

Eventually, Baram draws close to the couple and speaks with them privately. He tells them that he knows who they are, but the people's fear of the ivory door is too great to allow them to believe that there was really nothing there all along -- they believe in the demons and want to kill them. Perival protests that he knows for a fact that there are no demons because he went through the passage but saw none. "Do not take our stories away!" is Baram's response.

Baram tells Perival that he will do what he can to save Perival and Lillia's lives, but that they will have to leave and never come back. Lillia protests that she is a princess and knows nothing of survival and Perival is likely no better; Baram says that he is sure they will find a way because they have seen the truth. Perival says that at least he and Lillia will be together, but his words ring hollow because, as Lillia points out, they've only just met that day and if they aren't getting married for politics, then they should at least see if they like each other first before getting married. With that, Baram assumes the mantle of Protector of the Kingdom and orders the "demons" exiled.

Some productions have put on an epilogue scene, in which an old man wearing a king's crown listens to a young boy ask if the stories about how Baram the Great defended the kingdom from demons are true.

Allegorical Import

The play is an overt criticism of religious dogma, in which Perival and Lillia are presented as heroic figures who learn the truth about myth and legend. Milne encourages the audience to look at their own religions, particularly Christianity, as a set of mythological stories no more to be believed than the stories about the demons living behind the ivory door in Perival's kingdom. Left open to audience is debate is the matter of whether Baram is a hero also, for keeping the peace and maintaining the status quo, or a villain for perpetuating a lie, however well-intentioned it might have been. Also left open to interpretation is the role that mythologies and other factually inaccurate stories play in a society.