''Lady Frederick'' is a comedy by the British writer

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

, written early in his career. The play was first seen in London in 1907, and was very successful, running for 422 performances. The title role was played by

Ethel Irving Ethel Irving (1869–1963) was a British stage actress. She also appeared in five films. She was the daughter of stage actor Joseph Irving (died 1870) and the wife of actor Gilbert Porteous (died 1928)Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

, who reprised her role in the play's film adaptation, ''

The Divorcee ''The Divorcee'' is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film written by Nick Grindé, John Meehan, and Zelda Sears, based on the 1929 novel ''Ex-Wife'' by Ursula Parrott. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, who was nominated for the Academy Award ...

''. In the play, Lady Frederick is an Irish widow, seriously in debt; she must deal with suitors who have various motives for proposing marriage, and with the man with whom she once had an affair.

History

Maugham's first play, ''A Man of Honour'', was produced by the Stage Society in 1902, after being refused by several managers, and had some success. He was unable to get his next play ''Loaves and Fishes'' produced. ''Lady Frederick'' was written in 1903. Maugham wrote about its origins:

I reflected upon the qualities which the managers demanded in a play: evidently a comedy, for the public wished to laugh; with as much drama as it would carry, for the public liked a thrill; with a little sentiment, for the public liked to feel good; and a happy ending. I realised that I should have more chance to get a play accepted if I wrote a star part for an actress... I asked myself what sort of part would be most likely to tempt a leading lady.... The answer was obvious: the adventuress with a heart of gold; titled, for the sex is peculiarly susceptible to the glamour of romance; the charming spendthrift and the wanton of impeccable virtue; the clever manager who twists all and sundry round her little finger and the kindly and applauded wit....''The Collected Plays of W. Somerset Maugham'', volume 1. Heinemann, 1961. Preface, pages vii–xi.

The play was refused by many managers. Maugham wrote: "... it had in the third act a scene in which the heroine had to appear dishevelled, with no make-up on, and have her hair done while she arranged her face before the audience. No actress would look at it...."

Otho Stuart Otho Stuart (9 August 1863 – 1 May 1930) was a British actor of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who specialised in performing in the plays of Shakespeare. Stuart played the range of Shakespearean leading men, both with the Company of ...

, at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

in London, had had an unexpected failure; needing a play during the time required to get another play ready, he accepted ''Lady Frederick''. It was first produced there on 26 October 1907, with

Ethel Irving Ethel Irving (1869–1963) was a British stage actress. She also appeared in five films. She was the daughter of stage actor Joseph Irving (died 1870) and the wife of actor Gilbert Porteous (died 1928)Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...

, the

Criterion Theatre The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began development ...

, the New Theatre and the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

; it ran for 422 performances. In New York the play was first seen on 9 November 1908 at the

Hudson Theatre The Hudson Theatre is a Broadway theater at 139–141 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the Hudson was built ...

; it featured

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

as Lady Frederick and

Bruce McRae Bruce McRae, Jr. (January 15, 1867 – May 7, 1927) was an American stage (theatre), stage and early silent film actor. He was the nephew of actor Charles Wyndham (actor), Sir Charles Wyndham. Early Years Born in India in 1867 of Scots and ...

as Paradine Fouldes. It ran for 96 performances.

Critical reception

A reviewer in ''The Daily Chronicle'' wrote:

''Lady Frederick'' is just a conventional, tricky comedy, not quite clever enough at its own game.... One fancies that Mr. Maugham’s real hope was that Lady Frederick, as a buoyant, brilliant, large-hearted, impulsive Irishwoman, would, by sheer force of personality, carry everything before her and dazzle the audience into delight. It is to be feared, unfortunately, that this is not quite what Miss Ethel Irving’s interpretation is likely to do. Extremely intelligent and alert as she always is, but fearfully nervous, Miss Ethel Irving under-played nearly every scene, and seemed afraid of just the moments that she should have attacked....''The Daily Chronicle'', 28 October 1907. Quoted i
Footlight Notes.
Accessed 4 September 2016.

A reviewer in ''The Sunday Times'' wrote:

It is not quite a lifelike comedy, nor is it free from the artifice and calculation which was customary in the days of the '
well-made play The well-made play (french: la pièce bien faite, pronounced ) is a dramatic genre from nineteenth-century theatre, developed by the French dramatist Eugène Scribe. It is characterised by concise plotting, compelling narrative and a largely stan ...
'.... Mr. Maugham is by nature not a comedy-writer: he has the mind dramatic.... Miss Ethel Irving, all mobility, impulse, emotion as the Irish widow, has never acted so well. She made the audience love Lady Frederick at first sight, she maintained the interest to the last moment...."Anthony Curtis, John Whitehead. ''W. Somerset Maugham''. Routledge, 2013. Pages 68–70.
Includes review by J. T. Grein in ''The Sunday Times'', 27 October 1907.

Original cast

Principal members of the cast on 26 October 1907 at the Royal Court Theatre:''Plays: Lady Frederick, The Explorer and A Man of Honor''
Library of Alexandria. * Lady Frederick Berolles –

Ethel Irving Ethel Irving (1869–1963) was a British stage actress. She also appeared in five films. She was the daughter of stage actor Joseph Irving (died 1870) and the wife of actor Gilbert Porteous (died 1928)Edmund Breon Edmund Breon (born Iver Edmund de Breon MacLaverty; 12 December 1882 – 24 June 1953) was a Scottish film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1907 and 1952. Life and career Born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Br ...

* Mr. Paradine Fouldes – C. M. Lowne * Marchioness of Mereston (his sister, aged 40) – Beryl Faber * Marquess of Mereston (her son Charles, aged 22) – W. Graham Brown * Captain Montgomerie – Arthur Holmes-Gore * Admiral Carlisle – E. W. Garden * Rose (his daughter) –

Beatrice Terry The Terry family was a British theatrical dynasty of the late 19th century and beyond. The family includes not only those members with the surname Terry, but also Neilsons, Craigs and Gielguds, to whom the Terrys were linked by marriage or blood ti ...

Summary

Act I

The scene is a drawing-room of the

Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

. Lady Mereston wants her brother Paradine Fouldes to stop her son Charles's affair with Lady Frederick: she is 15 years his senior, and in debt. Lady Frederick tells the Admiral that her brother Gerald wants to marry his daughter Rose. The Admiral, knowing that Gerald is a gambler, disapproves. Paradine Fouldes once had an affair with Lady Frederick. He has a long conversation with her about her possibly marrying Charles; saying "I'm going to play this game with my cards on the table," she replies "You're never so dangerous as when you pretend to be frank." Eventually Lady Frederick, saying "you've not seen my cards yet," produces love-letters from Charles's late father to a singer at the

Folies Bergère The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall, located in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the architect Plumeret. It opened on 2 May 1869 as the Folies Trév ...

. She invites Paradine to burn them, but he declines, saying "It's not fair to take an advantage over me like that. You'd bind my hands with fetters." Captain Montgomerie asks Lady Frederick to marry him; Gerald later tells her that it was because he is in debt to Montgomerie.

Act II

The same scene as Act I. Lady Frederick has found that her creditor has sold the debt, and does not know who now has it; this increases her anxiety. Fouldes suggests getting out of debt by selling him the love-letters (produced in Act I). Lady Frederick's dressmaker, to whom she owes money, comes in. Lady Frederick tells her she regards her as one of her best friends; flattered, the dressmaker refuses to accept the cheque she starts to write. Montgomerie talks to Lady Frederick: it emerges that he has bought her debts. He says he wants to get into fashionable society; if she marries him, he will burn the bills and Gerald's IOU. Charles tells Lady Mereston and Fouldes that he knows of Fouldes' affair with Lady Frederick – he thinks she did not really love him. When Lady Mereston produces a letter written by Lady Frederick which seems to show that she was someone's mistress. Charles believes her explanation of the letter, that there was no affair. Lady Frederick burns the love-letters (produced in Act I), so she never has the temptation to use them. She says she wants nothing to do with Charles. But Charles asks her to marry him.

Act III

The scene is Lady Frederick's dressing room. Charles arrives to hear Lady Frederick's answer, and is shown to her dressing room. She has her hair done by her maid, and makes up her face: this is her answer, she says, to his proposal; if she married him, she would have to continue trying to appear youthful. The Admiral has given Gerald a cheque for the money owed to Montgomerie; his gambling debts settled, Gerald can marry Rose. The Admiral asks Lady Frederick to marry him. When Montgomerie comes in for the money she owes him, she prevaricates, saying she has already sent it. Eventually Fouldes gives Montgomerie a cheque to settle the debt. Finally, Fouldes talks to Lady Frederick. He is glad she burnt the letters, which, he says, she did in spite of being provoked by his sister Lady Mereston; he says they should get married, and she consents.

Epigrams

Maugham wrote that an American manager "asked me to write in some more epigrams. He said it wanted gingering up. I went away, and in two hours wrote as well as I could twenty-four." Among the

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...

s in the play: * Lady Mereston: "It's one of the injustices of fate that clothes only hang on a woman really well when she's lost every shred of reputation." * Fouldes: "Common report is an ass whose long ears only catch its own braying." * Lady Frederick: "When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war." * Fouldes: "There's no one so transparent as the person who thinks he's devilish deep." * Fouldes: "The lover who's diffident is in a much worse way than the lover who protests."

References

{{W. Somerset Maugham 1907 plays British plays adapted into films Plays by W. Somerset Maugham