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A Bill of Divorcement
Excerpt from A Bill of Divorcement: A Play in Three Acts
The curtain rises on the hall, obviously used as the common-room of a country house. On the right (of the audience) is the outer door and a staircase that runs down from an upper landing towards the middle of the room, half hiding what has once been a separate smaller room with a baize door at the back. In the corner a French window opens on to a snowbound garden. On the left, facing the entrance, a log fire is blazing. Staircase, pictures, grandfather clock, etc., are wreathed with holly and mistletoe. At the breakfast table, which is laid for three and littered with paper and string, sit Miss Hester Fairfield and Margaret Fairfield, her niece by marriage. The third chair has two or three parcels piled up on it.
Hester Fairfield is one of those twitching, high-minded, elderly ladies in black, who keep a grievance as they might keep a pet dog - as soon as it dies they replace it by another. The grievance of the moment seem to be the empty third chair, and Margaret Fairfield is, as usual, on the defensive.
About the Publisher
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
The curtain rises on the hall, obviously used as the common-room of a country house. On the right (of the audience) is the outer door and a staircase that runs down from an upper landing towards the middle of the room, half hiding what has once been a separate smaller room with a baize door at the back. In the corner a French window opens on to a snowbound garden. On the left, facing the entrance, a log fire is blazing. Staircase, pictures, grandfather clock, etc., are wreathed with holly and mistletoe. At the breakfast table, which is laid for three and littered with paper and string, sit Miss Hester Fairfield and Margaret Fairfield, her niece by marriage. The third chair has two or three parcels piled up on it.
Hester Fairfield is one of those twitching, high-minded, elderly ladies in black, who keep a grievance as they might keep a pet dog - as soon as it dies they replace it by another. The grievance of the moment seem to be the empty third chair, and Margaret Fairfield is, as usual, on the defensive.
About the Publisher
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
- GenresPlaysBritish Literature
104 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1921
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Clemence Dane
102 books8 followersClemence Dane was the pseudonym of Winifred Ashton.
Clemence Dane (name for the London church, St Clement Danes) was the pseudonym of Winifred Ashton, an English novelist and playwright (1888-1965). Between World Wars I and II, she was arguably Britain’s most successful all-round writer, with a unique place in literary, stage and cinematic history. Dane won an Oscar for her screenplay “Vacation from Marriage,”. School teacher, novelist, playwright and magazine editor, Dane wrote at least 30 plays and 16 novels.
One series she was famous for was The Babyons, by Clemence Dane. Four long stories strung together by a supernatural thread and chronicling the family history of the Babyons over a period of about 200 years. The ghostly thread is introduced in the first story, “Third Personal Singular,” a tale of 1750. James Babyon, engaged to marry his cousin Hariot, becomes suddenly averse from her and breaks the engagement within a month of the date set for the wedding. In a passionate scene in which the probable madness of Hariot is subtly suggested she pleads with him and, finding him adamant, cries that they are already married in soul and are inseparable. That his cousin actually is subject to fits of madness he does not learn until he is wedded to her companion Menella. He and Menella go to Europe to find everywhere that people have a curious fear of them; a fear which spreads to their servants and, when he learns that Hariot committed suicide, to Babyon himself. He regards himself directly responsible for her death, becomes obsessed with the belief that she haunts him, and the tragedy ends with his madness. The second story is dated 1775, the third 1820-1873, and the last 1902-1906. These stories are lighter than the first stark tragedy, and they end with peace at last given to the Babyons. Through them all runs the influence of Hariot, that strange, wildly passionate woman of 1750. Fine, dramatic work of large conception.--The Australian Woman's Mirror 29 May 1928.
Clemence Dane (name for the London church, St Clement Danes) was the pseudonym of Winifred Ashton, an English novelist and playwright (1888-1965). Between World Wars I and II, she was arguably Britain’s most successful all-round writer, with a unique place in literary, stage and cinematic history. Dane won an Oscar for her screenplay “Vacation from Marriage,”. School teacher, novelist, playwright and magazine editor, Dane wrote at least 30 plays and 16 novels.
One series she was famous for was The Babyons, by Clemence Dane. Four long stories strung together by a supernatural thread and chronicling the family history of the Babyons over a period of about 200 years. The ghostly thread is introduced in the first story, “Third Personal Singular,” a tale of 1750. James Babyon, engaged to marry his cousin Hariot, becomes suddenly averse from her and breaks the engagement within a month of the date set for the wedding. In a passionate scene in which the probable madness of Hariot is subtly suggested she pleads with him and, finding him adamant, cries that they are already married in soul and are inseparable. That his cousin actually is subject to fits of madness he does not learn until he is wedded to her companion Menella. He and Menella go to Europe to find everywhere that people have a curious fear of them; a fear which spreads to their servants and, when he learns that Hariot committed suicide, to Babyon himself. He regards himself directly responsible for her death, becomes obsessed with the belief that she haunts him, and the tragedy ends with his madness. The second story is dated 1775, the third 1820-1873, and the last 1902-1906. These stories are lighter than the first stark tragedy, and they end with peace at last given to the Babyons. Through them all runs the influence of Hariot, that strange, wildly passionate woman of 1750. Fine, dramatic work of large conception.--The Australian Woman's Mirror 29 May 1928.
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March 21, 2017
هذه المسرحية تعيد مرّة جديدة الصراع اليومي الذاتي بين: الأخلاق، المبادئ، الدين، المجتمع، العادات، التقاليد، المشاعر، العواطف، المصالح والغرائز؛ وتذكّرني إلى حدّ بعيد بالمناقشات التي تدور حول "الإجهاض"، "القتل الرحيم"، "التبرع بالأعضاء"، وهنا الموضوع هو الطلاق بسبب جنون الشريك أو غيابه عن الوعي لفترة طويلة جداً. فالسؤال: ماذا يفعل الشريك؟
لا يكفي أن تكون متفرّجاً، فالعمل المسرحي هذا، يدفعك بطريقة أو بأخرى إلى أن تسأل نفسك السؤال ذاته: ماذا سأفعل أنا لو كنت في المكان والموقف عينه؟!
ولا تعدو الشخصيات في العمل إلّا كونها آراءً لا شخصيّات، فالقارئ المتأمّل يستطيع أن يقرأ رأيه في شخصيّة أو أُخرى، وربّما يرى آراء المجتمع المختلفة في بقيّة الشخصيّات: القسّ (رأي الدين)، العمّة (المجتمع والتقاليد)، الزوج (الواجب والمبدأ)، العشيق (المصلحة والغريزة)، الزوجة (الأهواء والواجبات)، الإبنة (مبدأ الحرية والثورة على كل شيء)، عشيق الإبنة (الحياديّة السلبيّة)، وحتّى الكلب له دور.
أتمنّى لكم قراءة ممتعة، مفيدة، هانئة.
لا يكفي أن تكون متفرّجاً، فالعمل المسرحي هذا، يدفعك بطريقة أو بأخرى إلى أن تسأل نفسك السؤال ذاته: ماذا سأفعل أنا لو كنت في المكان والموقف عينه؟!
ولا تعدو الشخصيات في العمل إلّا كونها آراءً لا شخصيّات، فالقارئ المتأمّل يستطيع أن يقرأ رأيه في شخصيّة أو أُخرى، وربّما يرى آراء المجتمع المختلفة في بقيّة الشخصيّات: القسّ (رأي الدين)، العمّة (المجتمع والتقاليد)، الزوج (الواجب والمبدأ)، العشيق (المصلحة والغريزة)، الزوجة (الأهواء والواجبات)، الإبنة (مبدأ الحرية والثورة على كل شيء)، عشيق الإبنة (الحياديّة السلبيّة)، وحتّى الكلب له دور.
أتمنّى لكم قراءة ممتعة، مفيدة، هانئة.
January 12, 2014
I’m not sure what I was expected with A Bill of Divorcement. I knew the play was made into a movie in the 1930s (Katharine Hepburn’s first onscreen role) and that it was written in response to changes to Britain’s divorce laws, but beyond that, I had no idea how dated or funny or serious it would be. But a drama with a mix of 1930s remarriage comedy (without the comedy) and David Auburn’s Proof was not it.
Thirty-five-year-old Margaret Fairfield married at 18 and, for most of the intervening years, has been a single mother raising a daughter (now 17). Her husband was institutionalized due to incurable shellshock suffered during the war, and the previous year, she was granted a divorce under the new law. The play opens on Christmas Day, exactly a week before Margaret is set to marry Gray Meredith, whom she’s been seeing for the past five years. Her daughter is already planning to follow in Margaret’s footsteps and marry her beau within the next year, and Margaret’s maiden aunt-by-marriage is tutting over the state of a society where a woman can remarry while her husband is still alive.
Naturally, then, Margaret’s first husband shows up, cured and ready to resume their marriage.
A Bill of Divorcement centers on the three women. The men are at the peripheral, which isn’t to say the men’s roles aren’t interesting – they are, especially the first husband – but they are supporting roles. The play introduces multiple competing desires and wishes, and none of them have easy answers. All of the resolutions are ugly compromises.
Overall, I enjoyed A Bill of Divorcement. Where the play shows its age, though, is in its use of eugenics. Given how eugenics would be used later in the century – and given how eugenics is used to buttress one of the play’s subplots – it’s not surprising the play has fallen by the wayside. Recommended.
Thirty-five-year-old Margaret Fairfield married at 18 and, for most of the intervening years, has been a single mother raising a daughter (now 17). Her husband was institutionalized due to incurable shellshock suffered during the war, and the previous year, she was granted a divorce under the new law. The play opens on Christmas Day, exactly a week before Margaret is set to marry Gray Meredith, whom she’s been seeing for the past five years. Her daughter is already planning to follow in Margaret’s footsteps and marry her beau within the next year, and Margaret’s maiden aunt-by-marriage is tutting over the state of a society where a woman can remarry while her husband is still alive.
Naturally, then, Margaret’s first husband shows up, cured and ready to resume their marriage.
A Bill of Divorcement centers on the three women. The men are at the peripheral, which isn’t to say the men’s roles aren’t interesting – they are, especially the first husband – but they are supporting roles. The play introduces multiple competing desires and wishes, and none of them have easy answers. All of the resolutions are ugly compromises.
Overall, I enjoyed A Bill of Divorcement. Where the play shows its age, though, is in its use of eugenics. Given how eugenics would be used later in the century – and given how eugenics is used to buttress one of the play’s subplots – it’s not surprising the play has fallen by the wayside. Recommended.
May 7, 2023
يمكنك مراجعة المراجعة الخاصة بـ Mtanos Awwad على نفس الكتاب لعدم التكرار.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews