THE STORY: Set in 1522, THE GOLDEN YEARS revolves around Cortez’s invasion of Mexico during Montezuma’s reign. Written during the early stages of World War II, the conflict between the Spanish general and the Aztec king mirrors the relationship between Hitler and the leaders of the European states and America. Arthur Miller says of his play, “THE GOLDEN YEARS…[is a] look at passivity and its risks, but here the society as well as an individual is at stake. Montezuma, like the democracies facing Hitler, was as though hypnotized. Weakened by self-doubt he looks to Cortez, manifestly a brute and conqueror, as one who may nonetheless bear within him the seed of the future.” Montezuma looks for meaning in Cortez, where there is only greed for gold, lust for power and desire to conquer. While Montezuma attempts to use reason and words, Cortez uses force and crushes the flourishing culture of the Aztecs.
THE GOLDEN YEARS received its world premiere on BBC Radio in 1987.
