Audiobook · read by volunteers
Lady Windermere's Fan
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
Read by Kristin Hughes (1974-2021), Ezwa, Simon Taylor, Joe Earley, Ed Meade, Ruth Golding, Annoying Twit, Christie Nowak, tubeyes, Elizabeth Klett · 4 chapters · 2 h 05
About the book
Lady Windermere believes her marriage is perfect, until a rumour suggests that her husband has been seeing another woman. On the night of her twenty-first birthday ball, with a new fan in her hand and the whole of London society in her drawing room, she must decide how far she will go to protect her pride. Into this tense situation steps the mysterious Mrs Erlynne, and nothing is quite what it seems. Oscar Wilde's four-act comedy is full of glittering epigrams, sharp observations on Victorian morals and a plot that turns on secrets, misunderstandings and difficult choices. Presented here as a full-cast LibriVox recording, with different volunteers voicing the characters, it brings the dialogue to life in just over two hours. If you enjoy witty drawing-room drama with a serious heart, this is an excellent place to start.
Introduction
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), the Irish writer and wit, wrote Lady Windermere's Fan in 1892, and it was first performed on the London stage in that year before being published in 1893. It was his first great success as a playwright and was followed by a series of comedies, including A Woman of No Importance and The Importance of Being Earnest, that made him the most fashionable dramatist in the city. The play carries the subtitle A Play About a Good Woman.
Like his other society comedies, it satirises the morals of Victorian high society and the unequal ways in which men and women were judged. Its action turns on a fan given to Lady Windermere by her husband, and on the ball that celebrates her birthday. Wilde mixes dazzling wit with a more serious interest in reputation, forgiveness and the difference between appearance and character. The famous epigrams that fill the dialogue are not merely decoration; they reveal what the characters think of themselves and of each other.
This LibriVox production is a dramatic reading with a cast of volunteers, among them Kristin Hughes, Ezwa and Simon Taylor, and it lasts about two hours. The four acts are provided as four separate files, which makes it simple to follow the structure of the play. Hearing the text aloud is a good way to appreciate its rhythm and comic timing, for Wilde wrote for the stage and his lines were made to be spoken. More than a century on, the play still shows how elegantly an author can entertain an audience while quietly questioning the standards of his age.
Public domain
Oscar Wilde died in 1900: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text