2 h 17 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 56 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 56 pagesAbout this book
In a drawing room full of elegant guests, a rumour can threaten a marriage before the birthday ball begins.
Lady Windermere trusts her husband and believes right and wrong are easy to tell apart. Then the Duchess of Berwick brings gossip about his connection with Mrs Erlynne, a woman society shuns. When Lord Windermere insists that Mrs Erlynne attend his wife's birthday ball, Margaret faces a choice that puts her principles and her marriage under strain.
Oscar Wilde's comedy in four acts turns polite conversation into a contest of wit, suspicion and judgment. Lord Darlington challenges Margaret's strict ideas, while Mrs Erlynne seeks a place among people ready to condemn her. From the birthday preparations to the crowded drawing room, clever remarks expose a troubling question: are the guardians of respectability any better than the woman they reject?
What you’ll discover
- A birthday under strain Watch roses, guests and party preparations become the setting for a crisis of trust.
- Wit with a sting Enjoy sharp exchanges that turn familiar ideas about goodness and respectability upside down.
- Women under judgment Meet Margaret and Mrs Erlynne, facing a society with harsh expectations for women.
- Secrets behind polite smiles Follow a husband's guarded secret as suspicion tests the marriage he wants to protect.
- The cost of respectability Consider who deserves another chance when gossip passes for truth and appearances decide worth.
Is it for you?
This is for anyone who enjoys witty talk, social comedy and stories about reputation and second chances. It suits readers new to Wilde or to plays. If you want fast action or a realistic plot with no coincidence, you may find it less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A birthday gift and a rigid young wife
- A charming friend plants a dangerous idea
- Gossip tells a wife what her husband hides
- An invitation that becomes a threat
- The ball, the guest and a wife's dangerous choice
- What the play says about judging others
- How Wilde builds wit, symbol and suspense
Who’s who
- Lady WindermereMargaret Windermere, twenty-one, holds strict views of right and wrong and trusts her husband completely. She wants a marriage and a world with clear rules.
- Lord WindermereArthur Windermere, her devoted husband, keeps a secret about Mrs Erlynne that he thinks he must protect, even at the cost of his wife's trust.
- Mrs ErlynneA beautiful, poised woman with a doubtful past who arrives in London society and wants to be accepted into it again.
- Lord DarlingtonA rich, witty bachelor who mocks easy morals, is secretly in love with Lady Windermere, and wants her to turn to him.
- The Duchess of BerwickA chattering society matron who spreads rumours, condemns others loudly and wants a good marriage for her daughter Agatha.
- Lord Augustus LortonA kind, bumbling older bachelor, a friend of the family, who becomes deeply taken with Mrs Erlynne and wants to win her.
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- 15-minute summary
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Lady Windermere's Fan
by Oscar Wilde· 1893
A young wife suspects her husband and tests her principles.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 7
A birthday gift and a rigid young wife
The play opens one afternoon in the morning room of Lord Windermere's house in Carlton House Terrace, London. Lady Windermere, whose first name is Margaret, is arranging roses for the party she will give that night. It is her twenty-first birthday. She has been married to Lord Windermere for less than two years, and they have a baby son.
Her husband has just given her a fan as a birthday present. It is a fine one, with her name written on it. She loves it and says she will carry it at the ball. The fan will pass through the whole play, and the first scene makes it a sign of her trust in her husband and of her own spotless character.
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The author
Oscar Wilde
1854–1900 · Irish playwright and poet
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish poet, playwright, and novelist born in Dublin. He lived in London and later in France, where he died in Paris. He published The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890. His play The Importance of Being Earnest was first performed in 1895.
“I can resist everything except temptation.”
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What is Lady Windermere's Fan about?
It is a comedy about a young London wife who suspects her husband of an affair with a woman of bad reputation. Her strict ideas about good and bad are tested at a ball, and she nearly makes a ruinous choice.
Who is Mrs Erlynne in Lady Windermere's Fan?
She is a charming, beautiful woman with a mysterious past who has arrived in London society. Fashionable people gossip about her and shut her out, while gentlemen visit her. Her link to the Windermeres drives the plot.
What does the fan mean in the play?
The fan is Lady Windermere's birthday gift from her husband. It stands for her trust and pride, and she threatens to use it as a weapon. It later becomes an object that matters to the plot.
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