Lady Windermere's Fan

Out of both the plays we read this week, my favorite would have to be “Lady Windermere’s Fan” only because I got into it the most. I had a much harder time getting into the first play, “A Woman of no importance” although I did enjoy it most towards the end. Both plays however, shared some of the same things. They both criticized the English society, which I guess Oscar Wilde did purposely to show how they are all about higher class and social ranking, and that’s what matters to them. Also, both plays focused on women who was each deceived by a man. In “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, Mrs. Erlynne, betrayed her husband and daughter for another man, but he had also betrayed her, leaving her with nothing. In “A Woman of No Importance”, Lord Illingworth lied to Mrs. Arbuthnot when she got pregnant with his child and promised her he would marry her. Of course, he never did, which made her live a secret and guilty life of sin.

            In “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, the fan played a lot of significance in the play. Although it was just an unimportant object that Lady Windermere received as a birthday gift from her husband, we see it throughout the whole play and it became important to a few characters. For example, from the beginning of the play we see it as being significant because it was a birthday present from Lady Windermere’s husband, who throughout the play was the one who was thought to have been cheating on her that whole time. We then see it as a weapon against Mrs. Erlynne, when Lady Windermere threatened to hit her with it if she had come to her birthday ball. We then see it when it is left in Lord Darlington’s room and Mrs. Erlynne told the men, she thought it was her own fan and grabbed it by mistake. She then wanted to keep it purposely to remember her daughter by. Not only that, but Lord Windermere, wanted to get rid of it even though it was his own gift, because he had thought of it to be in the hands of a sinner, something that shouldn’t be touch by his wife who is known to be pure and of innocence.

            Overall I liked the play. It was kind of interesting reading something from the Victorian period in England, where we can see how the high class interacted with each other. I think Oscar Wilde made a great point in showing how English people care more about their money and their reputation, than someone who is a puritan, who in both plays, were looked down at.