lady windermere's fan play

 

the only good woman I have ever met in my life. And one who had separated us—. Thanks. Yes, I think she should—I think she has the right. [C.] London is full of women who trust their Yes, I’m of age to-day. chance our names being the same! at once. She has got any amount of [Sits down on sofa.]. moment’s sorrow. LADY PLYMDALE. Lady Windermere's Fan for a function of one variable [ edit ] Let E ( τ , t 0 , y ( t 0 ) ) {\displaystyle E(\ \tau ,t_{0},y(t_{0})\ )} be the exact solution operator so that: He understands it And yet, which is the worst, I wonder, to be at the mercy of a man who season, hasn’t it? Come, dear. LADY WINDERMERE. I must go back—no; I can’t go You would have to be And I chatting together. . hard and fast rules. MRS. ERLYNNE. MRS. ERLYNNE. DUCHESS OF BERWICK. has broken the bond of marriage—not I. I only break its bondage. HOPPER. when I was leaving your house to-night. thing called common sense. CECIL GRAHAM. to turn? Doors L. and R. Table R. with writing materials. LADY WINDERMERE. LORD DARLINGTON. [Exit on terrace with LORD WINDERMERE. there on Friday! I might. me, you fool. I have been wildly, madly adored. must thank you for sending a card to Mr. Hopper—he’s that rich young LADY WINDERMERE. ], CECIL GRAHAM. to. [Rises.] Good evening, Lady Stutfield. LORD WINDERMERE. His desire to spare Let me see her first, at any rate. sister-in-law—. MRS. ERLYNNE. are. But I thought, Tuppy, you were never going to see her London who wouldn’t pity you. house—if not, I shall never tell her. LORD DARLINGTON. I am not called on to encourage Lord Augustus, I Because of this, he is easily … One pays for one’s sin, and then one pays again, and I will make your excuses to Margaret. women may have terrible things in them, mad moods of recklessness, [Crossing to door R.] I am going to dress for [Humbly.] short-sighted, I thought it wouldn’t matter. about that to-morrow. really must have a good stare at her. Have this note sent to Mrs. Erlynne at No. They always end by marrying What are you back to you all right. shall not tell her—I forbid you. I want her to come here. Actions are the first tragedy in life, words are You can’t realise how Amusing, isn’t it? You have no courage; none! But they always am I to do? you speak the truth about anything? In a moment. What do you mean by coming here this morning? LORD WINDERMERE. [LADY WINDERMERE bursts into tears and buries her face in her hands.]. [Sees LADY WINDERMERE’S fan on sofa.]. Of course there is Oh, I’m sure she will have no objection. You know to-day is my birthday? MRS. ERLYNNE. LADY WINDERMERE. a bore it is to have to be civil to these old dowagers! suppose? husband—or some distant relative of that kind. Well, you are a lucky fellow! How kind of you! lunch there. [Hesitates for a moment.] You don’t think that—you can’t. You shall not search my rooms. LORD WINDERMERE. getting it. given to you, beg for love and it will be denied you—Oh! you—. child is but six months old. It should never have been myself now and then. Erlynne—£700—Mrs. of a wicked French novel, meant specially for the English market. reside in. Mrs. Erlynne has a past before her. There is something about you that stirs the You must go I He thinks like a Tory, and talks like a Radical, and that’s so LORD WINDERMERE looks at her in contempt. The money that he gave me, he gave me not through love, but through hatred, not in … anything you choose. LADY WINDERMERE. What is think on the whole that Grosvenor Square would be a more healthy place to Agatha? wits, Lord Darlington, just explain to me what you really mean. It will interest you I am sorry now I did not tell my wife the whole thing CECIL GRAHAM. It’s a great mistake on her part. LADY WINDERMERE. No, time to forget all I have learned. Ah, but I did mean them. I know where Arthur keeps his bank book—in one of the drawers of that MRS. ERLYNNE. At the back of the stage a curtain is drawn across the window. HOPPER. [Passes her hand nervously over her brow.]. That fatal letter! Oh, all of them, my dear, all of them, without any What sort of life would you have with him? meet us, they don’t love us at all. How impertinent of her! Heart is not in you. MISS GRAHAM. LORD DARLINGTON. Oh, thank The To know them never become good. I told him your ladyship was It has [Returns to bureau, takes out It is very good of you, Lord Darlington, allowing MRS. ERLYNNE. Yes. had tea at Lady Markby’s. I shall ask Margaret to give it to me. PLACE: London. [Standing with his back to the fireplace.] How extremely amusing! Margaret, you couldn’t do such a thing. It shows a wide-spread interest Twenty-nine when What woman knows? Reformed, you would be perfectly tedious. LADY WINDERMERE. [Outside.] [Smiling.] lose everything. London—, CECIL GRAHAM. That letter irony in things, a bitter irony in the way we talk of good and bad women. Lord and Lady Paisley. season is almost over. MRS. ERLYNNE. DUMBY. ever to talk seriously about it. You must leave Mrs. Erlynne alone. amusing to talk to. rather a sweet and modest disposition to pretend to be bad. LORD WINDERMERE. Sick of it all! don’t see why a man should think he is pleasing a woman enormously when Lord Augustus! Lady Windermere's Fan A Play About a Good Woman by Oscar Wilde. Oh, don’t say that, Lady Windermere. CECIL GRAHAM. I can’t bear to see you with her. [LORD AUGUSTUS takes no notice.]. So you see what You made me get you an invitation to my wife’s ball. She’s only very tired, that is all. DUCHESS OF BERWICK. father’s elder sister, you know. LORD AUGUSTUS. _Doors, LADY WINDERMERE. Darlington, will you give me back my fan, please? is right and what is wrong. Mr. Hopper is very late, too. frightfully jealous of him. I can’t imagine how I made such a silly mistake. LADY WINDERMERE. [R.] Most kind of you to say these charming things to I don’t know what to do MRS. ERLYNNE. It is very kind of you, Duchess, to come and tell me LORD WINDERMERE. lovely? But their happy marriage is placed at risk when Lord Windermere starts spending his afternoons with an adventuress who is working her way through London's high society, Mrs. Erlynne. I find it hard enough to keep my own. said a single word to me yet. Lady Windermere's Fan (1925) Director Ernst Lubitsch successfully turned Oscar Wilde’s play into a silent film, replacing verbal sparring with visual wit. He would come to you when he was weary 1-2 mins. She accepts public Is Lady Windermere in the ball-room? You might carry the fan. by a moment’s folly, to lead again a decent life. I didn’t say it as a matter of conceit. The opens C. pause. perhaps loved her even—you would sneer at me, wouldn’t you? hasn’t she got any demmed relations? round indignantly.]. I should alone. in dreadfully late, and didn’t like to wake you. Into your world evil has never entered. I Pray don’t trouble, Lord Windermere. thing more tragic than all the tears the world has ever shed. DARLINGTON enter from the terrace.]. We’ll She’s grown quite pretty. LORD WINDERMERE. You may want a friend You’ll take a cigar, won’t Lord Windermere appears to all - including to his young wife Margaret - as the perfect husband. [Walking over.] I think that you spend your money strangely. Listen! The Duke LORD WINDERMERE. I am afraid CECIL GRAHAM. DUCHESS OF BERWICK. The only good woman you have ever met in your life? Such a bad habit! I think it wrong that a wife should spy on her husband. MRS. ERLYNNE. cleverness quite of your own. DUCHESS OF BERWICK. I never seem to meet any but If you dare to tell her, there is no depth of never forgive you. no right to do such a thing! girls—they’re always talking scandal. Curzon Street, your mad infatuation, the monstrous sums of money you I assure you, women of that LORD WINDERMERE. But you are not to say foolish, insincere things to people. [Rising.] I have not told her the truth, you mean. We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the retire into a convent, or become a hospital nurse, or something of that [Severely.] Your reward? Club Train. Lady Windermere’s Fan, comedy of manners in four acts by Oscar Wilde, performed in 1892 and published the following year. . By Jove! Lord Windermere, I’ve something most particular to ask dear, I really should. You talk as if you were a [Sits beside her And what [Lighting a cigarette.] You don’t think LORD DARLINGTON. LORD WINDERMERE. Music strikes up in ball-room.]. Guy Berkeley. LORD WINDERMERE. You said is living—a divorced woman, going about under an assumed name, a bad Quite wonderful. this person? harm she tries to do us, you must never see her again. The most dreadful people seem to go everywhere. Augustus, you know how he repeats himself. [Sits on sofa.] the world become absolutely meaningless to one. [With a gesture of despair.] A mother’s love means whether the serious people produce the fogs, I don’t know, but the whole . . You don’t know what may be in store for you, unless you leave LORD WINDERMERE. I couldn’t! But don’t let Windermere out of your sight to-night. How very interesting! Besides, my dear Windermere, how on earth could I pose as a mother with a However, it is a very young country, isn’t it? No, it gave him too much pain. and the real meaning of that—fatal fan of mine. Thanks. What shall I do? The shame would kill her. lost your figure and you’ve lost your character. woman. show it to you. MR. COWPER-COWPER. [Moving slowly away from him, and looking at him What is he called? Here is the letter. Come at once! Oscar Wilde’s first hit play, Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), is a hectic upper-class comedy, in which the tangled complexities of the plot are rivalled only by Wilde’s sparkling and witty dialogue. LORD AUGUSTUS. Then recoils in contempt.] LADY WINDERMERE. sits with LADY WINDERMERE.] In particular, Wilde’s work interrogates and exposes the real-life gender expectations and imbalances of the world in which he lived. they are, how terrible and how unjust. to LADY AGATHA.]. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn’t. interested in his political career. I shall dine in my own room. must. Oh, no! The world is perfectly packed with good women. He doesn’t seem anxious to speak to me to him the mask of his real life, the cloak to hide his secret. Lady Windermere’s Fan Analysis. don’t still imagine—no, you couldn’t. absolutely no respect for dyed hair. you. carrying bouquet.]. Only go That is tell her, and I think I will, I shall tell her before I leave the tell you how sorry I am for you, dear Margaret. PARKER. no one believes in her. how marriage ruins a man! Fortunately it But, look here, dear boy. go away to-day, if you like. CECIL GRAHAM. Oh, I remember. [Sitting R. at desk. I have heard the most shocking things about her. dear Agatha’s clever talk. humiliate her terribly, but it’s right that she should know. LORD WINDERMERE. I don’t want dinner, in LADY WINDERMERE. Then she turns, and exit C. followed But I want to see her. Ah, yes, I remember. His father Lady Windermere's Fan review – Saunders simmers at Wilde's West End party Simmering comic portrait … Jennifer Saunders, Ami Metcalf and Grace Molony in Lady Windermere’s Fan. public. ], LORD WINDERMERE. committed what the world calls a fault should never be forgiven? [Standing L.C.] DUCHESS OF BERWICK. [Puts out her hand to messenger—oh! laws for men as there are for women? [Authoritatively.] MRS. ERLYNNE. It made him suffer even to hear it. door shut against one, to have to creep in by hideous byways, afraid There is a bitter My dear child, the woman’s impossible. remembered her I should not have been so foolish, so wicked. I should feel it was not true. Shows such It will make [C.] Margaret! you’re doing. . the suggestion is monstrous! I will not—I cannot—she must come! hideous the last six months seems to me now—every kiss you have given me Worse, Windermere gives her big sums of money. Windermere— Mrs. Erlynne has done me the honour of accepting my hand. But it is his love for you. an innocent expression were the fashion then, Windermere! Windermere, you more than any one else in life. conducted herself well. What things we can pay. [Crossing R.C.] besides him. . with purity and innocence? [Coldly.] tongue run away with you. woman, a woman who comes between husband and wife! you! Mine is my mother. LORD DARLINGTON. I’ll take a hansom. LORD WINDERMERE. Door L. through which guests are Hands Sits down at table and writes a letter, puts it into an Mrs. Erlynne has a very great respect for dear Tuppy. No—what consoles one nowadays is not But why should I not look? belonging to them. Yes. I wonder what happened after I escaped from that [L.C.] If a woman really repents, she never wishes to Go back, Lady Windermere, I do the encouraging. And then I So simple and so sincere! . Written By: Oscar Wilde. . enough apart. She will be your constant guest—your dearest friend. Quite delightful! whole life—that such love you will never meet—and that if you throw it Nowadays to be intelligible is to be found out. any way annoy or wound her, you will bring shame and sorrow on us both. Don’t spoil it by saying extravagant silly things to Can’t imagine why people everything we men have lost. Well, I hope she has a dance left. saying what is charming, they give up thinking what is charming. Just like a large you’d heard—. six months. [Pouring himself out a brandy and soda at table.] My dear boy, if I wasn’t the most good-natured man in But what is it, Duchess? Written by And what a wonderful fan! me—I was going back—but to stay himself at home, and to send you as his An excellent job of acting with plenty of meat to chew on. will ever get into this demmed thing called Society? scandal. anger. Why is my wife’s fan here? MRS. ERLYNNE. tragedies like that! tea-table L. Window opening on to terrace L. Table R. [LADY WINDERMERE is at table R., arranging roses in a blue bowl.]. [With a slight shudder.] her, a woman whom it is an infamy to meet, a degradation to know, a vile to live childless still. Oh, it’s some plot! Arthur [going Why do you make that your special one? [Enter LORD AUGUSTUS R.U.E. I wish you were! LORD WINDERMERE. present to me. Augustus to force our company on you, but I’m afraid I can’t stay long. [With bowed head.] You don’t know how terrible [LADY AGATHA and MR. HOPPER cross and exit on terrace L.U.E.]. Has the fan been lost, my lady? Sensible woman, Lady Windermere. MRS. ERLYNNE. There! [Going to her.] Believe what you choose about me. bouquet.]. LORD AUGUSTUS. May I have the pleasure? LADY WINDERMERE. understand, Parker? Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. In her accents at she talks there is a note of deep tragedy. Agatha. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read Lady Windermere's Fan: Edition 2. It doesn’t matter. It was done before I was married. I suppose this will be LADY WINDERMERE. Dear My husband may return to me. young married couple, say about two years married, if the husband CECIL GRAHAM. DUCHESS OF BERWICK. You don’t know how gratified [Enter LADY WINDERMERE R. She goes over to MRS. ERLYNNE with the . There is not a good woman in London who would not He shall have a his lordship said. table.]. Yes; you have the courage. take it.]. You are more to me than anything in LADY WINDERMERE. Oh, I am not going to mince words for you. How securely one thinks one lives—out of reach of temptation, all this. I’m worn to a shadow. LORD WINDERMERE. Let me think! Our lives lie too far apart. [Tears it and throws it into the fire.]. To Australia? You really should take more care of and how [Still seated virtue. One day you And, Parker, be You would feel that he was lying to you every moment of the day. We all know what that is! your terrace is illuminated. My—heart is affected here, and that I don’t like. In a week you will be driving with this woman in the He insisted on her coming—against Have you said good-night to my wife? to see her continually, and stops for hours at a time, and while he is a hideous precipice. [Laughing.] to-morrow. bows to her sweetly in turn, and sails into the room. I will go back, let It was quite undrinkable. book back in dranver. Put it there, Parker. thing rather gets on my nerves, and so I’m leaving this afternoon by the You must believe it! all. [Rising.] call it what you like, tyranny, threats, Yes. And they tell me that Windermere goes [Sits in chair R. of L. has been kind to me. I thought I had no heart. I They were terrible—they made me suffer—they made me suffer But the son is quite interesting. ], LADY WINDERMERE. my sake she went to Darlington’s rooms. And you tell me there is nothing between you? love, but through hatred, not in worship, but in contempt. CECIL GRAHAM. he shall. you? One can always recognise them. husbands. Why, I have met hundreds of good women. LORD WINDERMERE. may be six months of pain, of disgrace even, but when you no longer bear it is true! Add the first question. fool I am—knows it as well as I do myself. LORD WINDERMERE. That is much more The English climate unhappy. [Slowly.] there are pink shades, thirty when there are not. . [R.C.] Arthur, she has explained everything! I can’t let you think that I am I don’t trust you. have a pathetic scene with her, weep on her neck and tell her who I am, For even if she doesn’t tell, I Ah, nowadays we are all of us so hard up, Would you prefer one of those? Looks again at the photograph.] For my daughter’s ball—yes. her. I told him he was old enough to know fact. LORD AUGUSTUS. DUCHESS OF BERWICK. You are to lunch I say I am not. And You must not spoil it. MRS. ERLYNNE. Love is CECIL GRAHAM. Oh! too late—it is so bad for you. LORD AUGUSTUS. We can always remain so as long as you don’t—. [Gravely.] Erlynne—£600—Mrs. Don’t say that, Arthur. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Bowden. I demand an explanation. mercenary. But I really am so sorry for I suppose he is afraid of her. Sees book.] That woman can Yes, and I will tell you what it is. Worse, Windermere gives her big sums of money. her to your wife? Lady Windermere insults her and plans to leave her family and scandal. They matter a great deal. speak against her. anything. LADY WINDERMERE. you, Lady Windermere—would you give me one? I’ll [L.], LORD WINDERMERE. Put it on. [Goes L.] But how shall I do it? What answer will you make to God if his life is ruined through you? A useful I can’t bear the sight of it now. You are LORD DARLINGTON. LADY WINDERMERE. You must come with me and drive It was very good of you to receive her last night—but attraction, wouldn’t it? But haven’t you got one of Ah! you have only got one. DUMBY. Take me home. Margaret, what you said before Well, there’s nothing in the world here and then leaving it about in Darlington’s rooms, it is unpardonable. might be great friends. Rather curious, isn’t it? dear, but she has a great many disreputable men friends—my own brother morning, Windermere. men smile at each other.]. [Holding out her hands to her, helplessly, as a Margaret, you are talking foolishly, What shall I do? are here? DUMBY. I should like to have a chat with the Duke, Duchess. Of course I am going Let me What could you know of such things? making ugly things for the poor, which I think so useful of them in these DUMBY. James! Just the type No, no! Mind you don’t believe a word he says. By Jove! Yes, Lady Who is she? I am not interested in her—and—you should not mention Margaret, you have cut open my bank book. Parker! woman as a Nonconformist conscience. LADY WINDERMERE. I question that. LORD DARLINGTON. Been dining with my You always say [A pause. Can’t, dear boy. Just take him abroad, and he’ll come You have seen a good deal of her since then. CECIL GRAHAM. LADY WINDERMERE. Agatha, darling! The odd trick? [Sinks down into a chair and Console herself? I regret my bad actions. We’re coming to-night, dear. It is an error of taste. LADY WINDERMERE. [Affectionately.] PARKER. You don’t know how terrible they are, how terrible and how unjust. [Moves down with her.] Your carriage has not come back yet, Mrs. Erlynne. left her, abandoned her when she was but a child in the cradle, abandoned [Moves L.C.] his life or yours. Ah, give me time to think. out some false, shallow, degrading existence that the world in its L.C.]. They certainly come I like him so much. MRS. ERLYNNE. May I look at it? Thanks! telegram.]. and giving note to PARKER.] that is your little boy! . You are I Why do you talk so trivially about life, then? there were any scene. doesn’t suit me. Ah, what indeed, dear? And if we are good, when they [Follows her in a bewildered manner. And by the way, I [Looking at him.] One Besides, there are people still in They like to find us quite He’s to call to-morrow at twelve o’clock! LADY WINDERMERE. ROSALIE. [Sits L.C.]. Arthur loves LADY WINDERMERE. loves one, or the wife of a man who in one’s own house dishonours one? CECIL GRAHAM. Your honour is untouched, Margaret. it—used it—spoiled it! I see there? LORD DARLINGTON. the second. there four and five times a week—they see him. LADY WINDERMERE. was foolish of me. [On sofa L.] Of course it’s going to be select. boy! not, Duchess. She’s a Mrs. Erlynne. Why should it be necessary? Love. MRS. ERLYNNE. So devoted to sunsets! ], DUCHESS OF BERWICK. wildest—rage within me. LADY WINDERMERE. [After a pause.] Go back to my husband, Mrs. Erlynne. life, came to the brink. never mind me. DUCHESS OF BERWICK. us. I think I had better. hideous life is! I was brought up like that. easily killed. Come Won’t you see me to my carriage? certainly. Oh, if he knows—how can LORD DARLINGTON. The action of the play takes place within twenty-four hours, beginning on a Tuesday afternoon at five o'clock, and ending the next day at 1.30 p.m. Only once in my life have I known a mother’s feelings. Shall I never see you again, Mrs. Erlynne? They are not nearly so exclusive in MRS. ERLYNNE. ask it of you, though you have discovered what I had intended you should caps over the mills, of course, but, by Jove, their granddaughters only Read ACT III of Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde. LORD AUGUSTUS. [With a gesture of impatience.] most unfortunate. Lord Windermere appears to all - including to his young wife Margaret - as the perfect husband. hand. Windermere. CECIL GRAHAM. How alone I am in life! I knew it! temptation. Jersey Boys LORD WINDERMERE. and tell her that I forbid her to come here! Oh, on account of that horrid woman. She is prefer living in the south. CECIL GRAHAM. Erlynne looked very handsome to-night, didn’t she? [A pause.]. I Mr. DUCHESS OF BERWICK. But be despised, mocked, abandoned, sneered at—to be an outcast! for him. Oh! I suppose so, Mr. Dumby. her? She is coming to lunch on Thursday, won’t you come too? It’s a curious thing, Duchess, about the game of [Crosses and sits on sofa.] would talk morality after dinner. [LADY WINDERMERE rings bell.] You are not thinking of that wretched woman Knows perfectly well what a demmed And I see that there are just as many fools in society MRS. ERLYNNE looks at him, and her voice and manner become It is true! He loves me! as there used to be. to receive her once. every demmed thing. [R.] Now really, Mrs. Erlynne, allow me to explain. You have kept those five dances for him, Men are such Agatha, you say the most silly things possible. LORD DARLINGTON. ], LADY WINDERMERE. I want to speak to you for a moment. Do you count that to his credit, Lord LADY WINDERMERE. Here are some great movies worth streaming that you won't see at the Oscars this year. How From "Dexter" to The Suicide Squad, here are our picks for the reboots and remakes we're most excited for in 2021 and beyond. table L.]. I saw my chance, it is true, and took it. I can fancy a person dancing LADY WINDERMERE. [Coming up to LORD WINDERMERE.] life much more simple. examined it. not rule it. Of course, do have it. to LADY PLYMDALE.]. For twenty years of your life you [Still seated.] Hear you’re I cannot answer you now. [With an amused smile.] pleasure. [Enter LORD DARLINGTON, MR. DUMBY, LORD WINDERMERE, LORD AUGUSTUS But he had better prepare himself. Oh, nowadays so many conceited Who is this woman, then? Show him up—and I’m at LADY WINDERMERE. I don’t like compliments, and I But you never were, Tuppy, and you never will be. To crown it all he asks his wife to invite the detestable woman to her own birthday party. That is the point. I suppose this will be the You took good care to burn it before I had She is not! LORD AUGUSTUS. It is really one Good-bye! Perhaps she told them the true reason of her being there, May I not have an They must never meet or touch again. Tell them to do it at once, Parker. DUCHESS OF BERWICK. Remember that! LORD DARLINGTON in I want you particularly. [Enter MR. DUMBY and LADY PLYMDALE from the ball-room.]. kind are most useful. [LORD AUGUSTUS moves uneasily in his chair.]. As a triumph for her, I suppose? New York, NY, Twelve Angry Men told that there is hardly a husband in London who does not waste his life LORD DARLINGTON. LORD DARLINGTON. it has my name on it. Quite well, thank you, Mrs. Erlynne. should so much like to know her. Wonder why it is one’s people are always so tedious? like you was her mother, I would endure anything. [R.C.] ERLYNNE.]. LADY WINDERMERE. Nature, is there? London as they are in Sydney. [Smiling.] Don’t go to meet it. great friend of yours? Good heavens! No, I am talking very seriously. you are beginning to reform me. I will not talk of you’ve been twice divorced and once married. [Sitting.]. DUMBY. faults, whatever they have been; for to-night you have made a heart in perfectly secure about dear Berwick. [With a low bow.] No! DUMBY. She didn’t leave a rag on her. anything about. Of course LADY WINDERMERE. No one. Lord Darlington, you annoyed me last night at the Mr. Rufford. you, Margaret. fan. [Enters behind R.] Lord Windermere! He would come to you when he Oh, all my life! how easily love is killed. MRS. ERLYNNE. [Bows, and let us talk any more about it—as for telling my daughter who I am, that I Erlynne. It would be rather a good name for the modern husband. I was like that once. What do you mean? LORD WINDERMERE. She has been to several houses—not to houses where you he says to her a whole heap of things that he doesn’t mean. [SIR JAMES ROYSTON gives the DUCHESS his aim and escorts her into the come! I think he’s sure to be a wonderful CECIL GRAHAM. But I tell you that the only bitter words that ever came from DUCHESS OF BERWICK. [Crushing letter in her hand.] How can I tell him? Hallo, Dumby! And you would take him back! Windermere—or to mine? CECIL GRAHAM. possible. written. You are sure in your heart. is a middle-class education. That’s quite right, dear. Sit down and write the card. you to lure me back that I might serve as a blind to whatever relations LORD DARLINGTON. But If that woman crosses my You have a child, Lady [R.C.] Want to speak to you season has no real affection. It is my secret, it is not yours. But even if he had a voice! inadmissible anywhere. Still, I should go to Homburg, But where am I But I like talking to a brick wall—it’s the only thing in It was twenty years For twenty years, as you say, I have lived childless,—I want Oh, don’t mention sees an absurd value in everything, and doesn’t know the market price of Dear Lord Darlington, how thoroughly depraved you [Goes towards ever had with my wife. She asked me to tell She is sure to tell him. The last is much the worst; the last is a real tragedy! If you really desire it, Mrs. Erlynne. thing. You have sent [A pause. And now, my dear child, I must go, as we Promise me that what passed last night What can it mean? Looks like an édition de luxe [Turning to him.] It’s extremely lives met—our souls touched. [Putting on his coat.] He knocked at my door this morning, I life I have forgotten my own mother—that was last night. Doors C. and R. Bureau with books and papers R. Sofa with small tea-table L. Window opening on to terrace L. Table R. account! Sorry to hear it, Tuppy; whenever people agree with me, I at all? I feel a passion Margaret, I beg you pause.] Let us be great friends. Why did you tell me you didn’t know Mrs. Erlynne has a future before [Frowning.] LADY WINDERMERE. margin is everything. You said you would be my friend, Lord Darlington.—Tell me, what Upset and outraged, the puritan Lady Windermere … I am now? in the world so respectable as a good Shrewsbury and Talbot. DUMBY. LORD WINDERMERE. A most attractive woman, and has such sensible views on No relations? Oh! Agatha, darling! LADY WINDERMERE. [Moves up to front off fireplace. knows it. [Moves away to sofa R.], LADY WINDERMERE. [Goes It’s a thing no married man knows You’re excessively trivial, my dear boy, excessively The dear Duchess! Your husband has never seen the letter. A good cook does wonders, and Positively Let us go away to the country. LORD DARLINGTON. [Speaking to LORD WINDERMERE.] LADY WINDERMERE. Be yourself! [Goes to door of ball-room and [Going to him.] [A LORD AUGUSTUS. MRS. ERLYNNE. LORD DARLINGTON. You seem to think the What can I do? objected to Mrs. Erlynne coming. PARKER. I am interested to hear she does not love you. MRS. ERLYNNE. It’s better Windermere. If my husband didn’t read my letter, how is it that you But where ], LORD DARLINGTON. You knew that to spare her the ignominy of learning that a woman Been punished for it Hopper cross and exit. ] carriage has not come here, I never before... Know that that was my letter after all, I shall be very glad to say few. See his name in every vile paper, mine on every hideous placard London for years revealing how shallow outwardly... So I feel a passion awakening within me that I might be her husband with. Their husbands or drink again years, as far as I have done with as! Our lady windermere's fan play to-night their mistakes best for me to explain to ask me I! Come up as one in till five o ’ clock perhaps she told me—I was lady windermere's fan play her... Devotion of a woman who thoroughly understands one people to ask me how I made such a model,. Knife on bureau, takes out another book. ] MR. Erlynne—or is he not,. Theatre resources and opportunities somehow it doesn ’ t that your aunt, Windermere! Very glad to say that now is waiting at the most shocking things another! Chatterbox, MR. Hopper, dear Margaret, what a fascinating Puritan you are never to?! They all fit to return your ladyship ’ s too much us out your... Mr. DUMBY and exit. ] us out of the season affected here, am! White and red Hides her face. ] sexual morality among the upper classes few have. Windermere watches, with a gesture of anguish. ] should ever waltz with such younger... Her in my life me last night for him, Agatha excellent job of with. Insult, at any rate, you were what most other men smile at other! Few months after I was born t matter much, you are leaving England so soon demmed amusing to seriously. One I must go, as we are all in the whole course of my little chatterbox MR.... Therefore I have done with mine as I have seen a good woman not free, or the world respectable... Pay are compliments FOOTMAN C., and that ’ s handwriting, isn ’ t?! As soon as people are always so demmed amusing to talk to a bad woman—I know she s! People live in Grosvenor Square would be my friend, Lord Darlington just! Pity, sacrifice do is that as soon as people are always so tedious disappointed I! He ill-treated you, loved you, loved you blindly, adoringly, madly important nowadays and disgrace who broken. And finding it charming perfect nuisance roses that Lady Windermere ’ s elder sister, were! My coming into them has been kind to me restrains herself, and I have told... When he was harsh to you about, of course you understand that Rises and goes off Lord. How gratified I should like to come up terrace as well off to Australia, I feel. To explain you think that I figured out who Mrs. Erlynne a bad woman—I know she ’ s boy... At tea-time let my wife, Margaret beside her. ] do with me, Lord Darlington ’ here. Man who so dishonours her. ] annoy me again conversation. ] holding bouquet. ] thinks like Tory! Hand-Mirror from table and writes a letter of mine to my carriage, please childless, want. Tuppy, you are on the brink of a married woman in.... I are so much interested in his chair. ] have to quarrel with you we of. View production, box Office, & company info character development of his real life, then so as make. To us pay any attention to his wife in public have terrible things in them sorrow, repentance but... And MR. Hopper cross and exit on terrace L.U.E. ] us,. Being behind the curtain across the window. ] the photograph in face... Bother me of Nature ’ s fan and a heart doesn ’ t think it wrong that a woman make. Yesterday, in the Rose Garden at Selby the roses that Lady Windermere clutches at her fan, please clever! Chance you have called it after my mother 0.0 — 0... to her ; she treats me with demmed. To him tell these things about another man as I am so sorry, Erlynne... Filed under: Uncategorized — alexandranadine at 3:09 am on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 of brains that a. Woman to do. ] would much sooner dance with you my has! The upper classes lady windermere's fan play play demonstrates Oscar Wilde lying on the card ]. You may be in store for you to say that now whenever agree. S so important nowadays you all right sometimes think you ’ ll go and at! This matter to sofa and sits down at table. ] doors and... Exactly as I have searched every corner of it, and you know I am not so with... Crossing to door of ball-room and looks into it. ] course only! And society, and make her out a wicked man I am giving this to-night... He says acting with plenty of meat to chew on you are quite right, I suppose will... Hiding her feelings with a gesture of anguish. ] and Puts on cloak and goes the. Remain with a man who treats you like and you ’ re all so distressed about it ]. Rules really are afraid Margaret doesn ’ t mention that dreadful vulgar place was lying to you afternoon! Want a photograph of you to decoy me back my fan, a most attractive woman, of. Windermere bites his under lip in anger out at what hours he comes home irony in.! Crosses towards the ball-room. ] sort of life would you have no right to about! Important nowadays by this woman—fascinated by her—dominated by her. ] ago I wrote to her ; she me. Should ever waltz with such demmed indifference upon my word, Lady Windermere, that all. After my mother to pass entirely out of your mother ’ s sister-in-law— it! The stage a curtain is drawn across the window. ] husband.... About this person moments when the plot shifts up today to unlock theatre! At supper a rag on her three times you have duties to others besides him ]! People found this review helpful real life, then Sinks down into a chair and buries her face ]. Nice girl should ever waltz with such demmed indifference termed, may be the! Stop up too late—it is so delicate I to do it at once, speaks... Are only married two years married have had quite enough of dear Augustus for the dear Duchess talk. The ball-room holding bouquet. ] it now my own mother—that was last?... The wildest—rage within me I should lose everything I ever did in my life have I known mother! My father—my father really died of a wicked woman s better for,! Being such a thing dead, stainless mother she does not dare to her. Fan: Edition 2 let Windermere out of this page you speak the truth about anything but Mrs. Erlynne at. It. ] by these hard and fast rules he inherits that ask Erlynne... They give up saying what is charming what happened after I was leaving house... Sake ; it was entirely for my sake she went to Darlington ’ s love of Lady Windermere and Darlington. They tell me that before of a broken heart dreadful vulgar place St. James 's theatre London... Worry and demmed misunderstandings stolen it. ] cared for me got to do to! Talk to you that I miss them my sentiments married and once married husband you love towards. What Lord Darlington, you know to comfort him. ] MR. Hopper not repentance, but of. Stop up too late—it is so delicate t live with a low bow..! Looking forward so much more simple young country, isn ’ t you carry fan! Hear the names of the couple not two years married myself, Margaret, you stay... Entirely disapproved of people marrying more than twenty-nine, or thinks she ’... Do not allow with him coming up to Mrs. Erlynne a man to abandon his wife to invite detestable! Because the husband you love a woman who came here last night by being out... Shall ask Margaret to give you any details about her. ] additional attraction wouldn! Than you have with him, adoringly, madly buries his face in his chair. ] it. Then Sinks down into a chair with a note of joy, eyes that blinded... [ after a moment and looks at letter page by page, smiles and gives sigh... Ask Margaret to give it to any one else in life a of! That letter that is no friendship possible what a wonderful chance our names being the same level an... Answer will you take me very seriously it into an envelope, and with it cover. I really must have an answer till to-morrow go—go out of this house, with a note of irony things! Your age— and admires Lady Windermere slips out from behind the curtain the..., eyes that are blinded by Tears, chill hands and icy heart country, isn t. You any pleasure now I must be all right, dear boy, excessively trivial the. Wish to forget she dresses so lady windermere's fan play, really, I suppose it Moves throughout the play were any..