Lady Windermere's Fan

Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed 1892 in London. The play was first published in 1893. Like many of Wilde's comedies, it bitingly satirizes the morals of Victorian society, particularly marriage and attitudes between the sexes.

The story concerns Lady Windermere, who discovers that her husband may be having an affair with another woman. She confronts her husband, but he instead invites the other woman, Mrs. Erlynne, to his wife's birthday ball. Angered by her husband's unfaithfulness, Lady Windermere leaves her husband for another lover.

Or does she? Is it really possible to trust delicious gossip? Are all men really bad? These and many other questions are raised and if not answered, then held up for public scrutiny in this biting satire of morals and proper behavior.

The best-known line of the play sums up the central theme: We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. —Lord Darlington

E-Book, ePUB, length 20,100 words, average reading time 1 hour, 40 min. Unabridged full version. Also available as audiobook (solo recording of the play, meaning that all parts including stage directions are performed by one person), read by Phil Chenevert, running time 2 hours, 28 min.