What are the themes of Lady Windermere's Fan?

The key theme of superficiality in Lady Windermere's Fan is illustrated by a cluster of subtopics that include keeping up appearances, keeping up with the social expectations of class, and the hypocrisy of moral double standards.

Granted, these are typical themes in the genre of comedy of manners, which portrays, in a satirical way, the overzealous preoccupation of Victorians to appear successful, well-mannered, and "proper" in the eyes of society.

It can all be summarized in Lord Darlington's words:

If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn’t. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism.

Wilde, the master of this genre, presents these themes from the very start of the play.

Superficiality and keeping up appearances are essential themes in Lady Windermere's Fan because they cause nearly every action in the play.

For example, right from the very start, we find Lady Windermere engaged in putting her roses together. The way it is described, one would feel almost jealous of this lucky lady. She is a young, beautiful, and rich woman, who describes herself as someone who knows right from wrong and prefers people to be "proper" without any excuse. And yet, later on in the play, we will see her deviating from her moral compass and contemplating an elopement with another man.

The themes are also evident with Lord Windermere, the Lady's husband. He has one key action in the play: to protect his wife's social persona. He does this by keeping her from learning that her real mother, Mrs. Erlynne, is not only alive but also a mean, socially shunned woman who is planning to expose who she (Erlynne) really is. This would cause Lady Windermere a lot of shame. The appearance of domestic perfection that she embodies would come crashing down.

Lord Windermere also has to watch out for his own reputation. After all, according to the gossipy Duchess of Berwick, Society (with a capital S) "knows" about his dealings with the Erlynne woman. Moreover, Society "has been talking about it" behind the Windermeres' back, apparently having a field day with the situation.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are the characters who are shunned, or should be shunned, from society and yet try very hard to go back to it or continue to keep appearances.

The first is Mrs. Erlynne, Lady Windermere's real mother (unbeknownst to Lady Windermere). The woman was shunned from the "good" society for abandoning her husband and daughter to elope with a man. Still, she wants to be back in that circle. She resorts to blackmail and threats to Lord Windermere as ways to buy her silence. However, she still wants to disclose the truth to her daughter, even though she knows how insulting it would be for the sanctimonious Lady Windermere to find out who her mother is.

The second is Lord Darlington, who is known by everyone to be a dandy and "vile" as far as his morals go. He is still accepted in society only because his name, rank, and relations make him, by Victorian double standards, a member of the "polite" society. Hence, he keeps up the appearance of someone who is of a higher social bracket—but only in name and position. If he had no rank or position, he would probably receive the treatment that he really deserves, and nobody would go near him.

Therefore, the society in which Lady Windermere's Fan is set is very duplicitous. This is a time in which people presented themselves with fake and superficial appearances of righteousness and self-importance. As such, keeping up with appearances and with the social expectations of "class" were of utmost importance for survival.

While the play is just a representation of real life, Wilde knew all too well that things could get just as ridiculous and fake in everyday English society as he presented them in his plays. It is sometimes hard to tell with Wilde if, in his plays, art imitates life, or life imitates art.

What are the themes of Lady Windermere's Fan?

There are two major theme's in Wilde's play.

The first is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is insincerity; that is, saying or acting in a way that is not true or real. Most of the characters in Wilde’s play accept hypocrisy as a necessary component of their social world. For example, Dumby agrees with Mrs. Stutfield that the season has been ‘‘delightful,’’ and in the next breath agrees with the Duchess of Berwick that it has been ‘‘dreadfully dull.’’

The second major theme is that of the "bad mother." This play was written during the pinnacle of First Wave Feminism as women fought for suffrage. Women who wanted to "leave home" were often portrayed as evil, abandoning their families for realms that were "rightfully" male (politics, work, etc.). The "bad mother" is Erlynne in Wilde's play, who leaves to pursue her own life.

What are the themes of Lady Windermere's Fan?

In the high society of Lady Windermere's Fan, wherein we find Lord and Lady Windermere, appearances are everything. Having been mistakenly exposed for having an affair, Lord Windermere must find a way to explain himself without revealing the real truth to his wife - ‘‘I dare not tell her who this woman really is. The shame would kill her.’’  The woman is, in fact, her mother.

Marrying well is paramount and reputation must be preserved in ‘‘this demmed thing called society.’’ The characters are shallow and hypocritical, just as long as they can keep up appearances. Lady Windermere is shocked when Mrs Erlynne, whom she supposes is her rival for her husband's affections, is prepared to risk her own reputation to save Lady Windermere's after she  impulsively decided to leave her husband of two years and run away with Mr Darlington.

Mrs Erlynne is the arch-typical "bad mother" that Victorian society judges so harshly without consideration of any circumstances. However, Margaret (Lady Windermere) now has a soft spot for this woman - without any knowledge of who she is - but her husband is more cautious than ever of her as he is confused by her appearance at Mr Darlington's and claims that Mrs Erlynne is " ‘‘as bad as a woman can be.’’ Mrs Erlynne has been extorting money from Lord Windermere, blackmailing him to ensure that her identity is not revealed to her daughter. His intentions are good but now Mrs Erlynne also has a change of heart and is thankful that she has actually met her daughter. She gives some motherly advice to Margaret, urging her not to tell Lord Windermere about her proposed tryst with Mr Darlington.

As ever, appearances  can be deceiving. Mrs Erlynne has her own marriage proposal and will herself be able to join the echelons of society that she previously took advantage of - when she  blackmailed Lord Windermere so he could protect his wife's reputation and sensitivities.

Questions should revolve around the themes of appearances, the hypocrisy of society which judges others but never itself and the concept of the "bad mother." You could ask the following:

1. What is the real relationship between Margaret and Mrs Erlynne as compared to the "perceived" relationship? (mother / husband's mistress)
2. Why could Mrs Erlynne be described as a "bad mother" and what steps does she take to change this perception? (She was blackmailing Lord Windermere but saves Margaret's reputation at the risk of her own)
3. Why does Lord Winderemere keep the "secret" from his wife?(He does not think she is strong enough to know the truth)
4. What does this reveal about the concept of the "fragile" woman? (In this era, women's sensitivities were vehemently protected by men who thought they were weak.) 
5. How does Lord Windermere's "secret" reflect the attitude of the society at the time? (Stereotypes were accepted in high society and maintained the perceived balance in society circles)
6. Do you think a modern audience can relate to the circumstances here? (Many possible answers would be acceptable with supporting explanations: yes because we still live in an environment where lies are tolerated. No because women have a far larger role to play than the "pretty wife" and the "bad mother" concept has many mitigating circumstances and considerations.

What social aspects are found in the play Lady Windermere's Fan?

As is true of most of his plays, Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde is in many ways a drawing-room comedy, involving witty dialogue among members of the British aristocracy, replete with dandies and parties. Unlike Wilde's more successful plays, there is a more serious moral point hung on a somewhat clumsy plot structure.

The social critique has to do with first a double standard by which society in this period judged what was considered sexual misconduct, unfairly penalizing women and homosexuals while allowing, in particular, straight men to stray without being punished. It specifically directs its criticism at the hypocrisy of punishing women who commit adultery or strive for divorce, without punishing their male partners.

Mrs. Erlynne, who turns out to be the mother of Lady Windermere, actually proves the most moral of the characters in the play.