The Man Who Came to Dinner (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart
- First Published: 1939
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Comedy
- Time of Work: Christmas season, late 1930’s
- Setting: The home of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley in Mesalia, Ohio
- Principal Characters: Sheridan Whiteside, Maggie Cutler, Miss Preen, Dr. Bradley, Bert Jefferson, Ernest W. Stanley, Daisy Stanley, Richard, June, Lorraine Sheldon, Beverly Carlton, Banjo
- Genres: Drama, Comedy
- Subjects: Values, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Acting or actors, Middle classes, Mistaken or secret identity, Midwest, Ohio, 1930’s, Small-town life, Fame, Drama or dramatists
- Locales: Mesalia, OH
The Story:
Just before a Christmas in the late 1930’s, Sheridan Whiteside, a noted radio personality, was invited to dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest W. Stanley in Mesalia, Ohio. After slipping on ice and claiming to have dislocated his hip, he became an intrusive and outrageously demanding houseguest. Since he was confined to a wheelchair, he immediately banished his hosts to the second floor and turned the first-floor living room and library into his personal rooms, threatening the none-too-gracious Mr. Stanley with a lawsuit to intimidate him.
An...
[The entire page is 1794 words long]
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