Jan 6, 2010

The Women | Critical Overview

From its initial production in 1936 to its revivals in the 1970s and 1990s, The Women has always received mixed, sometimes heated, reviews.

Luce’s play has been most enthusiastically received when regarded as a hilarious social satire featuring outrageous caricatures of high society women who reel out witty, acerbic dialogue. During the 1930s, however, The Women was not without controversy. Scheduled productions in London and Providence, Rhode Island, were canceled by authorities on grounds of immorality. In her essay ‘‘Social Darwinism in the Powder...