The Women (Masterplots II: Drama, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Clare Boothe Luce
- First Published: 1937
- Type of Plot: Satire; women’s
- Time of Work: The 1930’s
- Setting: New York City and Reno, Nevada
- Principal Characters: Mary Haines, Sylvia Fowler, Edith Potter, Nancy Blake, Little Mary, Mrs. Morehead, Crystal Allen, Peggy Day, Countess de Lage, Jane, Maggie, Miriam
- Genres: Satire, Drama, Women’s literature
- Subjects: Values, Wives, Marriage, Women’s issues, Upper classes, Adultery, Women, Divorce, Gossip
- Locales: New York, NY, Reno, NV
The Play
The first act of this two-act play, presented in seven scenes, shows the destruction of Mary Haines’s marriage. When the curtain opens, Mary is absent. Four women sit playing bridge, smoking and gossiping as Sylvia Fowler complains about her husband. He expects her to stay home and keep house despite their wealth and servants. The other players include the young Peggy; Nancy, a writer; and Edith, a colorless and sloppy woman unhappily pregnant. When Edith leaves the room, Sylvia tells the others of Edith’s husband’s unfaithfulness. Sylvia has also heard that...
[The entire page is 2010 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
See Also
