''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by
Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the
St James's Theatre
The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succ ...
in London.
The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is having an affair with another woman; she confronts him with it. Although he denies it, he invites the other woman, Mrs Erlynne, to his wife's birthday ball. Angered by her husband's supposed unfaithfulness, Lady Windermere decides to leave her husband for another lover. After discovering what has transpired, Mrs Erlynne follows Lady Windermere and attempts to persuade her to return to her husband and in the course of this, Mrs Erlynne is discovered in a compromising position. It is then revealed that Mrs Erlynne is Lady Windermere's mother, who abandoned her family twenty years before the time the play is set. Mrs Erlynne sacrifices herself and her reputation to save her daughter's marriage.
Composition
By the summer of 1891 Wilde had already written three plays: ''
Vera; or, The Nihilists
''Vera; or, The Nihilists'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. It is a tragedy set in Russia and is loosely based on the life of Vera Zasulich. It was Wilde's first play, and the first to be performed. A draft of the script was completed in 1880 and t ...
'' and ''
The Duchess of Padua'' had found little success, and ''
Salome'' had yet to be staged. Unperturbed, he decided to write another play but turned from
tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
to comedy.
He went to the
Lake District in the north of England, where he stayed with a friend and later met
Robert Ross. Numerous characters in the play appear to draw their names from the north of England: Lady Windermere from the lake and nearby town
Windermere
Windermere (sometimes tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in length, and almost 1 mile (1.5 km) at its wides ...
(though Wilde had used "Windermere" earlier in ''
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime''), the Duchess of Berwick from
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census reco ...
, Lord Darlington from
Darlington.
Wilde began writing the play at the prodding of
George Alexander, the actor manager of
St James's Theatre
The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succ ...
. The play was finished by October.
Alexander liked the play, and offered him an advance of £1,000 for it. Wilde, impressed by his confidence, opted to take a percentage instead, from which he would earn £7,000 in the first year alone (worth £ today).
Alexander was a meticulous manager and he and Wilde began exhaustive revisions and rehearsals of the play. Both were talented artists with strong ideas about their art. Wilde, for instance, emphasised attention to aesthetic minutiae rather than realism; he resisted Alexander's suggested broad stage movements, quipping that "Details are of no importance in life, but in art details are vital". These continued after the opening night when, at the suggestion of both friends and Alexander, Wilde made changes to reveal Mrs Erlynne's relationship with Lady Windermere gradually throughout the play, rather than reserving the secret for the final act. Despite these artistic differences, both were professional and their collaboration was a fruitful one.
There is an extant manuscript of the play held in the
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (Clark Library), an affiliated library of the University of California, Los Angeles, holds rare books and manuscripts with particular strengths in English literature and history (1641–1800), Oscar ...
at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
.
Characters and original cast
*Lord Windermere –
George Alexander
*Lord Darlington –
Nutcombe Gould
*Lord Augustus Lorton –
H. H. Vincent
*Mr Cecil Graham –
Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Career Early life and career
A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from ...
*Mr Dumby –
Adolphus Vane-Tempest
*Mr Hopper – Alfred Holles
*Parker (butler) – Vernon Sansbury
*Lady Windermere –
Lily Hanbury
Lily Hanbury (1873 – 5 March 1908) was an English stage performer.
Hanbury was born Lilian Florence Alcock, the daughter of Elizabeth (née Davis) and Matthew Henry Alcock. Educated in London, her début was in an 1888 revival of W. S. Gilbert ...
*The Duchess of Berwick – Fanny Coleman
*Lady Agatha Carlisle – Laura Graves
*Lady Plymdale –
Charlotte Granville
*Lady Stutfield – Madge Girdlestone
*Mrs Cowper-Cowper –
Alice de Winton
Alice De Winton (born Alice Catherine Wilson 1870 – 1941) was an English actress.
She was born and died in London. She was the daughter of Henry Wilson, a retired army surgeon major, and Louisa Ducrow (daughter of equestrian and circus man ...
*Mrs Erlynne –
Marion Terry
Marion Bessie Terry (born Mary Ann Bessy Terry; 13 October 1853 – 21 August 1930) was an English actress. In a career spanning half a century, she played leading roles in more than 125 plays. Always in the shadow of her older and more famous si ...
*Rosalie (maid) – Winifred Dolan
::Source: Published playscript (1893).
Plot
Act I
The play opens in the
morning room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cent ...
of the Windermeres' residence in London. It is
tea time
Tea (in reference to food, rather than the drink) has long been used as an umbrella term for several different meals. English writer Isabella Beeton, whose books on home economics were widely read in the 19th century, describes meals of var ...
and Lady Windermere—who is preparing for her
coming of age birthday ball that evening—has a visit from a friend, Lord Darlington. She shows off her new
fan: a present from her husband. She explains to Lord Darlington that she is upset over the compliments he continues to pay to her, revealing that she has very particular views about what is acceptable in society, due in part to her somewhat
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
upbringing.
The Duchess of Berwick calls and Lord Darlington leaves shortly thereafter. The Duchess informs Lady Windermere that her husband may be betraying her marriage by making repeated visits to another woman, a ''Mrs Erlynne'', and possibly giving her large sums of money. These rumours have been gossip among London society for quite a while, though seemingly this is the first Lady Windermere has heard about it.
Following the departure of the Duchess, Lady Windermere decides to check her husband's
bank book
A passbook or bankbook is a paper book used to record bank or building society transactions on a deposit account.
Traditionally, a passbook was used for accounts with a low transaction volume, such as savings accounts. A bank teller or post ...
. She finds the book in a desk and sees that nothing appears amiss, though on returning she discovers a second bank book: one with a
lock
Lock(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lock ...
. After prying the lock open, she finds it lists large sums of money given to Mrs Erlynne.
At this point, Lord Windermere enters and she confronts him. Though he cannot deny that he has had dealings with Mrs Erlynne, he states that he is not betraying Lady Windermere. He requests that she send Mrs Erlynne an invitation to her birthday ball that evening to help her back into society. When Lady Windermere refuses, he writes out an invitation himself. Lady Windermere makes clear her intention to cause a scene if Mrs Erlynne appears, to which Lord Windermere responds that it would be in her best interest not to do so.
Lady Windermere leaves in disgust to prepare for the party, and Lord Windermere reveals in
soliloquy that he is protecting Mrs Erlynne's true identity to save his wife extreme humiliation.
Act II
Act II opens in the Windermeres'
drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cent ...
during the birthday ball that evening. Various guests enter, and make small-talk. Lord Windermere enters and asks Lady Windermere to speak with him, but she brushes him off.
A friend of Lord Windermere's, Lord Augustus Lorton ("Tuppy"), pulls him aside to inquire about Mrs Erlynne, with whom he is enamoured. Lord Windermere reveals that there is nothing untoward in his relationship with Mrs Erlynne, and that she will be attending the ball, which comes as a great relief to Lord Augustus as he was worried about her social standing.
After an unsuccessful attempt to make peace with his wife, Lord Windermere summons the courage to tell the truth to her, but at that moment Mrs Erlynne arrives at the party, where she is greeted coldly by Lady Windermere, spoiling his plan.
Alone, Lady Windermere and Lord Darlington discuss Mrs Erlynne's attendance. Lady Windermere is enraged and confused and asks Lord Darlington to be her friend. Instead of friendship, Lord Darlington takes advantage of Lady Windermere's tragic state and professes his love to her, offering her his life, and inviting her to risk short-term social humiliation for a new life with him. Lord Darlington sets her an ultimatum to try to convince her to take action immediately, while still in a state of shock. Lady Windermere is shocked by the revelation, and finds she does not have the courage to take the offer. Heartbroken, Lord Darlington announces that he will be leaving the country the next day and that they will never meet again, and leaves.
The guests begin to leave, and say their goodnights to Lady Windermere—some remarking positively about Mrs Erlynne. On the other side of the room Mrs Erlynne is discussing her plans with Lord Windermere; she intends to marry Lord Augustus and will require some money from Lord Windermere.
Later, Lady Windermere, in spite of her earlier reluctance, decides to depart the house at once for Lord Darlington, and leaves a note to that effect for Lord Windermere. Mrs Erlynne discovers the note and that Lady Windermere has gone, and is curiously worried by this revelation. While reading the note, a brief monologue reveals that she is in fact Lady Windermere's mother and made a similar mistake herself twenty years previously. She takes the letter and exits to locate Lady Windermere.
Act III
Lady Windermere is alone in Lord Darlington's rooms, unsure if she has made the right decision. Eventually she resolves to return to her husband, but then Mrs Erlynne appears. Despite Mrs Erlynne's honest attempts to persuade her to return home to her husband, Lady Windermere is convinced her appearance is part of some plot conceived by her and Lord Windermere. Mrs Erlynne finally breaks Lady Windermere's resistance by imploring her to return for the sake of her young child, but as they begin to exit they hear Lord Darlington entering with friends. The two women hide.
The men—who include Lord Windermere and Lord Augustus—have been evicted from their
gentlemen's club at closing time and talk about women: mainly Mrs Erlynne. One of them takes notice of a fan lying on a table (Lady Windermere's) and presumes that Lord Darlington presently has a woman visiting. As Lord Windermere rises to leave, the fan is pointed out to him, which he instantly recognises as his wife's. He demands to know if Lord Darlington has her hidden somewhere. Lord Darlington refuses to cooperate, believing that Lady Windermere has come to him. Just as Lord Windermere is about to discover Lady Windermere's hiding place, Mrs Erlynne reveals herself instead, shocking all the men and allowing Lady Windermere to slip away unnoticed.
Act IV
The next day, Lady Windermere is lying on the couch of the morning room anxious about whether to tell her husband what actually happened, or whether Mrs Erlynne will have already betrayed her secret. Her husband enters. He is sympathetic towards her and suggests that as the London
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...
is almost over that they head to their country estate to forget the recent incident. Lady Windermere apologises for her previous suspicion of her husband and behaviour at the party, and Lord Windermere makes clear his new contempt for Mrs Erlynne—warning his wife to stay away from her.
Mrs Erlynne's arrival is announced along with the return of the fan, and despite her husband's protestations, Lady Windermere insists on seeing her. Mrs Erlynne enters and states that she shall be going abroad, but asks that Lady Windermere give her a photograph of herself and her son.
Whilst Lady Windermere leaves the room to find one, the story is revealed: Mrs Erlynne left her husband for a lover shortly after Lady Windermere's birth. When her new lover abandoned her, Mrs Erlynne was left alone and in disrepute. More recently, using the assumed name of Mrs Erlynne, she has begun blackmailing Lord Windermere to regain her lifestyle and status, by threatening to reveal her true identity as Lady Windermere's shameful mother—not dead, as Lady Windermere believes. Her son-in-law, Lord Windermere laments not having told his wife the whole story at once and resolves to tell her the truth now. Mrs Erlynne forbids him to do so, threatening to spread shame far and wide if he does.
Lady Windermere returns with the photograph which she presents to Mrs Erlynne, and requests that Lord Windermere check for the return of Mrs Erlynne's coach. Now that they are alone, and being owed a favour, Mrs Erlynne demands that Lady Windermere not reveal the truth about the events of the previous night to Lord Windermere, and Lady Windermere promises to keep the secret.
After Lord Windermere's return, Lord Augustus enters. He is shocked to see Mrs Erlynne after the events of the night before, but she requests his company as she heads to her carriage, and he soon returns to the Windermeres with news that she has satisfactorily explained the events of the evening, and that they are to marry and live out of England.
Their marriage is restored, but both Lord and Lady Windermere keep their secrets.
Productions
Premiere
The premiere at the
St James's Theatre
The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succ ...
was followed by a famous speech by Wilde. When Wilde answered the calls of "Author!" and appeared before the curtains after the third act, critics were more offended by the cigarette in his hand than his ironically egotistic speech:
Ladies and Gentlemen. I have enjoyed this evening ''immensely''. The actors have given us a ''charming'' rendering of a ''delightful'' play, and your appreciation has been most intelligent. I congratulate you on the ''great'' success of your performance, which persuades me that you think ''almost'' as highly of the play as I do myself.
Mrs Erlynne was originated by
Marion Terry
Marion Bessie Terry (born Mary Ann Bessy Terry; 13 October 1853 – 21 August 1930) was an English actress. In a career spanning half a century, she played leading roles in more than 125 plays. Always in the shadow of her older and more famous si ...
, and Lady Windermere by
Winifred Emery
Winifred Emery (1 August 1861 – 15 July 1924), born Maud Isabel Emery, was an English actress and actor-manager of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was the wife of the actor Cyril Maude.
Born into a family of actors, Emery began ...
. The play's Broadway première on 5 February 1893 at
Palmer's Theatre
Three New York City playhouses named Wallack's Theatre played an important part in the history of American theater, as the successive homes of the stock company managed by actors James W. Wallack and his son, Lester Wallack. During its 35-yea ...
was also the first Broadway performance for stage and screen actress
Julia Arthur
Julia Arthur (May 3, 1869 – March 28, 1950)Although 1868 is accepted as the year of her birth, both ''The National Cyclopaedia of National Biography'' and ''Who Was Who in America'' give 1869 as the year. was a Canadian-born stage and film ac ...
, who played Lady Windermere in that production.
Themes
![A Conversation with Oscar Wilde - inscription](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/A_Conversation_with_Oscar_Wilde_-_inscription.jpg)
By showing in St. James's, Wilde was targeting a fashionable, upper-middle class audience and Wilde maps out the geography of their world,
Grosvenor Square,
Curzon Street
Curzon Street is located within the Mayfair district of London. The street is located entirely within the W1J postcode district; the eastern end is north-east of Green Park underground station. It is within the City of Westminster, running ...
, the park, with precision. Peter Raby has also highlighted ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' as a good example of Wilde's most successful dramatic technique: the juxtaposition of the comic and the serious. "Once the absurd and the patently false have been established, the serious emotions and ideas which are explored have been given a setting which prevents them from ever becoming too serious".
Scholar Paul Fortunato describes Oscar Wilde as a modernist, who used his modern aesthetics so as to direct him into the realm of mass culture. Wilde's huge popularity as a playwright began with his production of ''Lady Windermere's Fan'', his recherché attitude and personal aesthetics reflected in his writing. Fortunato elaborates on the facets of his aestheticism—an aestheticism that distorts and lies on the surface, rejects any notion of an authentic self, and centres on the female aesthete and woman of fashion. As he describes, understanding Wilde as a modernist through his writing of ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' can help us understand the disparity between mass culture and high society. Wilde bridges this by theorising his modern aesthetics beneath the ornamental surface of fashion and elite society. The fan that strings together the play's scenes simultaneously evokes a traditional symbol of modesty while revealing a truly modern current of infidelity.
Media
Adaptations
![Lady Windermere's Fan (1916) - Ad 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lady_Windermere%27s_Fan_%281916%29_-_Ad_1.jpg)
The play has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations and a musical adaptation.
Films include:
* A 1916 British film ''
Lady Windermere's Fan
''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London.
The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is ...
''.
* In 1924,
Hong Shen
Hong Shen (; 31 December 1894 – 29 August 1955) was a Chinese playwright, film director and screenwriter, film and drama theorist, and educator. He is considered by drama historians as one of the three founders of Chinese spoken drama, togethe ...
's production of 少奶奶的扇子 (''Shàonǎinai de shànzi'') ("The Young Lady's Fan").
* In 1925
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...
, ''
Lady Windermere's Fan
''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London.
The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is ...
'', which stars
Ronald Colman,
May McAvoy
May Irene McAvoy (September 8, 1899 – April 26, 1984) was an American actress who worked mainly during the silent-film era. Some of her major roles are Laura Pennington in '' The Enchanted Cottage'', Esther in '' Ben-Hur'', and Mary Dale ...
,
Bert Lytell
Bertram Lytell (February 24, 1885 – September 28, 1954) was an American actor in theater and film during the silent film era and early talkies. He starred in romantic, melodrama, and adventure films.
Background
Born in New York City, Lyt ...
,
Irene Rich
Irene Rich (born Irene Frances Luther; October 13, 1891 – April 22, 1988) was an American actress who worked in both silent films and talkies, as well as radio.
Early life
Rich was born in Buffalo, New York.
At age 17, she wed Elvo Elc ...
and
Edward Martindel
Edward Martindel (July 8, 1876 – May 4, 1955) was an American stage and film actor who appeared on Broadway and in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1946.
Born in Hamilton, Ohio, he was the son of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Martindell. His si ...
. It was adapted by
Julien Josephson
Julien Josephson (October 24, 1881 – April 14, 1959) was an American motion picture screenwriter. His career spanned between 1914 and 1943. He was a native of Roseburg, Oregon.
Career
Josephson was well known for his early silent movie ...
and directed by
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch (; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as ...
. In 2002, this film was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
* A 1935 German film ''
Lady Windermere's Fan
''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London.
The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is ...
'' directed by
Heinz Hilpert
Heinz Hilpert (1 March 1890 – 25 November 1967) was a German actor, screenwriter and film director. He was head of the Deutsches Theater during the Third Reich.
Selected filmography
Actor
* '' Nameless Heroes'' (1925)
* '' Prinz Louis Ferdi ...
and starring
Lil Dagover and
Walter Rilla
Walter Rilla (22 August 1894 – 21 November 1980) was a German film actor of Jewish descent.Siegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), pg. 213 He appea ...
.
* A 1948 Argentine film ''
Story of a Bad Woman'' directed by
Luis Saslavsky
Luis Saslavsky (April 21, 1903 – March 20, 1995) was an Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer, and one of the influential directors in the Cinema of Argentina of the classic era.
Personal life
Saskavsky was born in Rosar ...
and starring
Dolores del Río.
* In 1949,
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor.
He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...
directed an adaptation titled ''
The Fan'' starring
Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 – December 14, 2003) was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in '' Pinky'' (1949). She also starred in the films '' In the Meantime, Darling'' (194 ...
,
Madeleine Carroll
Edith Madeleine Carroll (26 February 1906 – 2 October 1987) was an English actress, popular both in Britain and America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress.
Carroll is rememb ...
, and
George Sanders
George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...
.
* A musical theatre version of the play was created by
Noël Coward in 1954 under the title ''
After the Ball''.
* In 1975, an Egyptian adaptation film (''2 Women'' – امرأتان) starring Nelly, Ahmed Mazhar and Noor El Sherif was released. The film was directed by Hassan Ramzy.
* A 2004 film adaptation, titled ''
A Good Woman'', switched the setting to the
Amalfi
Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramati ...
coast of Italy, made the Windermeres Mr. & Mrs, and updated the time frame to 1930. The film stars
Helen Hunt,
Mark Umbers
Mark Umbers (born 17 June 1973) is an English theatre, film and television actor.
Early life and education
Born in Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire, Umbers was brought up in Wetherby and was educated at Malsis School before attending Sedber ...
,
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...
,
Stephen Campbell Moore
Stephen Campbell Moore (born Stephen Moore Thorpe, 30 November 1979) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in Alan Bennett's play '' The History Boys'' and the film based on it. Since 2019, he has starred in the sci-fi television ...
, and
Tom Wilkinson
Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (born 5 February 1948)Born January–March 1948, according to the ''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com is an English actor of film, television, and stage. He has rece ...
.
* The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' series which was first transmitted in the UK during September 1985. This production features
. It is available on DVD as part of ''The Oscar Wilde Collection''.
* In 2009 Irish television production company Accomplice TV received funding from the
for their contemporary adaptation of the play set in South County Dublin. ''Laura Windermere's Bag'' was broadcast by TV3 in 2009.
* In 2018,
's production of the play with the Classic Spring Theatre Company at London's Vaudeville Theatre was recorded and shown "live" in cinemas under the "More2Screen" initiative.
* In 2020, the virtual international theatre company Cloud Theatrics performed an online production. The production was directed by Marie Newton and Holden Stokes. The performance had a YouTube release followed by a public release on their platform.
Radio adaptations include:
*On 19 June 1989,
as Lady Windermere, James Callix as Lord Windermere, Jonathan Cake as Lord Darlington,
as Mr. Dumby.
*
* Wilde, Oscar. ''Lady Windermere's Fan''. published in ''The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays''. London: Penguin, 1940. .
* Wilde, Oscar. ''Lady Windermere's Fan''. London:
, 2005.