Summary
The play opens on a morning in Lady Windermere’s residence in London, as she prepares for her coming-of-age birthday ball. Around tea time, Lady Windermere is visited by Lord Darlington, a friend of hers who starts complimenting her in a manner she considers improper.
Another character arrives, the Duchess of Berwick, and Lord Darlington leaves shortly thereafter.
The Duchess tells Lady Windermere that she believes Lady Windermere’s husband is having an affair. She claims he gives large sums of money to a woman of questionable character named Mrs. Erlynne and that the rumor of his infidelity has already spread through London society.
After the Duchess leaves, Lady Windermere starts to look for evidence to see if what she has heard is true or not. Lady Windermere searches her husband’s bank book but finds nothing wrong. She soon finds another bank book with a lock on it and when she breaks the lock, Lady Windermere finds that her husband gave large sums of money to Mrs. Erlynne just as the Duchess said.
When Lord Windermere comes home, Lady Windermere confronts him about what she has found, but her husband denies cheating on her. What is more, he even suggests that Lady Windermere should send an invitation to her birthday party to Mrs. Erlynne. Lady Windermere refuses categorically.
Lord Windemere then sends an invitation himself through Parker, one of the servants. Lady Windemere threatens to insult the woman if she does show up at the party.
Lady Windermere leaves the room and Lord Windermere reveals that he is protecting his wife by hiding Mrs. Erlynne’s identity, knowing that if his wife were to find who she really is, the shame would kill her.
Analysis
Age is an important theme from the beginning of Act I when Lady Windermere reveals that the party that will take place is for her birthday and that it is an especially important birthday because she is now "of age" (6). Lady Windermere, though clearly quite young, has already married and had a child, showing the rapidity with which children grew into adults in Victorian society. The theme of age returns later when Mrs. Erlynne discusses her age and various men talk together about the changes they have experienced in their views on life as they get older.
Wilde is famous for his satirical style, and there are both large and rather minor ironies sprinkled throughout Lady Windermere's Fan. For example, a small irony at the beginning of Act I is that Lady Windermere would be angry at Lord Darlington for paying her compliments, rather than fulfilling a stereotype of women by welcoming compliments from all men.
As early as the first dialogue between Lady Windermere and Lord Darlington, Wilde also begins to touch on the theme of moral absolutism. Throughout the play, characters discuss whether all people are "good" or "bad," and pay particular attention to how this applies to men, women, and Mrs. Erlynne in particular (through her association with men and women). Lord Darlington pokes fun at this theme even while it is being introduced, saying, "Do you know I am afraid that good people do a great deal of harm in this world. Certainly the greatest harm they do is that they make badness of such extraordinary importance. It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious" (8). Through this quote, Wilde is able to both satirize those who believe in moral absolutism and Lord Darlington (that is to say, the type of man Lord Darlington parodies) for believing in an even more frivolous dichotomy of people.
The conflict of the play starts when the Duchess of Berwick reveals the rumors that have been going around society about Lord Windermere's relationship to Mrs. Erlynne. We have not yet met Mrs. Erlynne, and this conversation will begin the characterization that is carried out mostly through rumor, gossip, and side conversations even once Mrs. Erlynne has officially graced the stage. The way the audience comes to understand Mrs. Erlynne shows and satirizes the role gossip played in Victorian high society.
It is difficult to say whether there is any one protagonist of the story, or whether Wilde wants to audience to empathize with Lady Windermere. Lady Windermere may be seen as justified in her snooping around her husband's things, but some might take that as a sign that she is distrustful or overbearing in her relationship. On top of this, she threatens to insult and even harm Mrs. Erlynne, though the audience must wait in suspense to see whether she will really carry out these actions. Finally, she does not seem to be very involved in the life of her child, who is not seen onstage once during the show, though this does not seem to be out of the norm for any of the play's characters. It would seem that Wilde's complex characterization of Lady Windermere speaks further to his distaste for moral absolutism.
