Actress Ellen Dunphy as Emilie Du Chatelet ~ Images Courtesy of Chicago History Museum, Costume Design by Assistant Curator Katy Werlin & Photography by Shea Waffles John
The life of a female intellectual largely forgotten by history emerges in a new play by Jyl Bonaguro. Urania plunges us back into 18th-century France, where courtly manners were strict and scientific reasoning was the new vogue. It portrays how, after falling in love with Voltaire, Du Châtelet transformed from a social dilettante into one of Europeʼs leading scientific minds. Considered scandalous by many, she still managed to publish works on physics, mathematics and even the subject of happiness. Her crowning achievement was a translation of Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica with an original commentary. Completed just 6 days prior to her untimely death at age 43, it is still the only complete French translation of Newton available today. Brushed aside by history, Du Châtelet is only recently being recognized as contributing to famous formulas like E=mc2. Unlike the generally more lighthearted dramatic adaptations of her story to date, Urania takes a modern approach that balances her unsung achievements with the nuances of her relationships and the constraints of 18th century attitudes towards women.