Lady Windermere's Fan

My own business always bores me to death; I prefer other peoples

Lady Windermere has a happy marriage - or, at least, thats what she believes until one of London societys gossips, the Duchess of Berwick, arrives with her daughter to voice her suspicions about an affair Lord Windermere appears to be having. Its not just the Duchess who has evidence, however. Windermeres private bank book shows that hes been giving large sums of money to a Mrs Erlynne - on frequent occasions - and he himself even admits to seeing much of the woman. To add insult to injury, Windermere insists that Mrs Erlynne is invited to the ball that is being held for Lady Windermeres birthday.

Employing the witty dialogue, social satire and outrageous paradox for which he is still remembered, Wildes play shows us the destructiveness of gossip and superficial judgement, examines the ambiguous sexual morality and gender politics at the heart of the British ruling class, while simultaneously challenging our perceptions of what constitutes a good woman.

This student edition contains a fully annotated version of the playtext. The introduction includes an account of Wildes life and a detailed analysis of Lady Windermeres Fan as well as its stage history.

Ian Small is Professor of English Literature at the University of Birmingham. He is the author of a number of critical studies on Wilde and has edited several of Wildes works, including a scholarly edition of Wildes second society comedy, A Woman of No Importance, also published in the New Mermaids series.