Lady Windemere's Fan: A Play About a Good Woman [Hardcover]

Oscar Wilde (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1893

Published in 1893 by Elkin Mathews and John Lane. Very good condition in full brown morocco by Bumpus; spine elaborately decorated with floral designs in gilt; cover and dentelle rules are in gilt. Top-edge gilt. Upper hinge is rubbed; minor bumping and wear; two bookplates.

The first and perhaps most brilliant of Wilde's comedies, Lady Windemeres' Fan was produced at the St. James Theatre on February 20, 1892. Its success, despite a hostile reception by a number of critics, was instant, and audiences have to this day delighted in its epigrams and saucy repartée. One of 500 copies issued. Rare: original covers and spine bound in rear. Includes publisher's 16-page "List of Books," dated December 1893 at rear.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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 Wilde's works, including a scholarly edition of Wilde's second society comedy, A Woman of No Importance, also published in the New Mermaids series.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Collectible First Editions; 1st edition (January 1893)
• ISBN-10: 1580601030
• ISBN-13: 978-1580601030
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,300,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford where, a disciple of Pater, he founded an aesthetic cult. In 1884 he married Constance Lloyd, and his two sons were born in 1885 and 1886.
His novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), and social comedies Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895), and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), established his reputation. In 1895, following his libel action against the Marquess of Queesberry, Wilde was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for homosexual conduct, as a result of which he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), and his confessional letter De Profundis (1905). On his release from prison in 1897 he lived in obscurity in Europe, and died in Paris in 1900.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oscar's Lady, April 13, 2000

By 

"lauryl" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lady Windemere's Fan: A Play About a Good Woman (Hardcover)

I was anxious to ready Lady Windamere's Fan after I'd read Oscar Wilde's other more popular play, The Importance of Being Earnest. I'm not quite sure what I expected, but I was surprised at the content of Lady Windamere's Fan. Considering the lifestyle that Wilde indulged in, it was interesting to see his take on the confusions and lack of communication between a husband and wife. He introduced the subject of a possible affair and divorce, but sketched his main characters as honorable citizens who were willing to go against the "impulse of the moment" and instead, stay true and faithful to their spouses. The person of Lady Windamere is interesting and effective. She is one who many women would do well to emulate. She demonstrates great love and devotion to her husband and her child, and shows forth woman's indwelling feeling of responsibility for her offspring.

As always, Wilde gives us an interesting little "twist" at the end of the play, just to keep us on our toes and prove again that we aren't nearly as clever as he! Wilde proves himself again with Lady Windamere's Fan-- a job well done!