Lady Windermere's Fan

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price

A biting satire on the morals of Victorian society.

Lady Windermere discovers that her husband may be having an affair with another woman. She confronts her husband but he instead invites the other woman, Mrs. Erlynne, to her birthday ball. Angered by her husband's unfaithfulness, Lady Windermere leaves her husband for another lover. After discovering what has transpired, Mrs. Erlynne follows Lady Windermere and attempts to persuade her to return to her husband and in the course of this, Mrs. Erlynne is discovered in a compromising position. She sacrifices herself and her reputation in order to save Lady Windermere's marriage.

Oscar Wilde's play Lady Windermere's Fan was first performed at St James Theatre, London, in 1892.

This edition, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is edited and introduced by Emma French.

Lady Windermere's Fan is also available in the collection Wilde: Four Plays.