Chapter 6: Review: Lady Windermere's Fan

As a child I read an illustrated version of Oscar Wilde's Happy Prince in Finnish, and it made such an impression on me that I still remember vividly the picture of the crying prince with the sparrow. Later I have seen both An Ideal Husband and An Importance of Being Ernest on film, but I had not read more Wilde until now. Which is kind of incredible come to think of it! Well, better now than never, and I can assure you I am going to read more Wilde in the not too distant future.

The book I am going to talk about now is Wilde's play Lady Windermere's Fan which I read for the 9 Books for 2009 challenge hosted by Isabel. 9 for 9 is a challenge to help participants to make their to-be-read piles a bit lower. All the books read for the challenge should already be in the possession of the reader, and we are to read books from nine different categories. See the right column of my blog for a list of the categories.

For me Lady Windemere's Fan falls into free-category. The book was given to me as Christmas present in 1993 by a friend and has been waiting for the perfect moment to read it ever since! It is a gem of a book (I can almost here Lady Windemere exclaim 'What a dear little book!") printed in March 1913, and it has that lovely old book smell to it! :) As a nice curiosity there is also the list of actors and actresses that acted in the premiere of the play printed in the beginning of the book.

As you can see the play premiered in St. James theatre in London in February 22nd, 1892. Mr. George Alexander, manager of the theatre from 1890 to 1918, produced the play and also acted the part of Lord Windemere. Lady Windemere was played by the young Miss Lily Hanbury, who in 1908 died tragically of medical complications after the birth of a still-born child. She was at the time of her death only in her thirties. The third main character, Mrs. Erlynne, was played by Miss Marion Terry, who performed in some 125 plays during her career that spanned five decades.

Lady Windemere's Fan is a play about morals, especially about morals of marriage. Lady Windermere, a good and innocent woman, falsely suspects her husband of two years of having an affair with the notorious Mrs. Erlynne, and is outraged when Lord Windemere demands Mrs. Erlynne to be invited to her party. Later Lady Windermere puts herself in a compromising position and is rescued by Mrs. Erlynne.

I found the play charming. Wilde's writing was all I thought it would be, witty and precise, and he portrays the life of the upper echelon of Victorian society very cleverly. At the same time the play is a quick and easy read. Highly recommended!

Here are some amusing snippets from the play:

"Lord Darlington: It's a curious thing, duchess, about the game of marriage -a game, by the way, that is going out of fashion- the wives hold all the honours, and invariably lose the odd trick.
Duchess of Berwick: The odd trick? Is that the husband, Lord Darlington?
Lord Darlington: It would be rather a good name for the modern husband."[p. 16]

"Lady Windermere: Are all men bad?
Duchess of Berwick: Oh, all of them, my dear, all of them, without any exception. And they never grow any better. Men become old, but they never become good." [p. 23]

"Lady Plymdale: ...You are to lunch there on Friday!
Dumby: Why?
Lady Plymdale: Because I want you to take my husband with you. He has been so attentive lately, that he has become a perfect nuisance. Now, this woman is just the thing for him. He'll dance attendance upon her as long as she lasts him, and won't bother me. I assure you, women of that kind are most useful. They form the basis of other people's marriages." [p. 62]