Even more than in The Second Mrs Tanqueray and Mrs Dane's Defence, Wilde is sympathetic towards her situation (she is the ‘Good Woman’ of the subtitle and original title).

In this, Wilde's first London success, he treats a favourite Victorian theme, that of the ‘fallen woman’.

She prepares to go abroad with her elderly suitor.ĪT: (A Play About) a Good Woman A: Oscar Wilde Pf: 1892, London Pb: 1893 G: Drama in 4 acts S: Lord Windermere's House and Lord Darlington's rooms, London, 1892 C: 7m, 9f The next morning Windermere, sneering at Mrs Erlynne's presence in Darlington's rooms, no longer feels threatened by her, and she promises never to reveal her identity to her daughter. When Lady Windermere's new fan is discovered, Mrs Erlynne comes out of hiding, pretending that she took it by mistake. Hiding her from the men coming from the party, Mrs Erlynne persuades her daughter to return home and say nothing about her attempt at unfaithfulness. Finding Lady Windermere's note, her mother rushes to Darlington's rooms to prevent a repetition of her own mistake. She threatens to reveal herself to Lady Windermere, if Windermere does not finance her return to society. She left her husband and daughter to run away with a lover who then abandoned her. It is now revealed that Mrs Erlynne is Lady Windermere's mother. Lady Windermere, humiliated by her presence, leaves the party to go to Darlington's rooms, leaving her husband a note. Worse still, Windermere insists that Mrs Erlynne should attend the birthday party. She reproaches Lord Darlington for courting her, but is dismayed to learn that her husband is known to be associating with a Mrs Erlynne, to whom he gives regular sums of money. AT: (A Play About) a Good Woman A: Oscar Wilde Pf: 1892, London Pb: 1893 G: Drama in 4 acts S: Lord Windermere's House and Lord Darlington's rooms, London, 1892 C: 7m, 9fLady Windermere is 21 today, and her seemingly devoted husband has given her a fan for her birthday.

Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde