Genre
Play, Satire
Language
English
Setting and Context
England, late 19th century
Narrator and Point of View
N/A
Tone and Mood
Witty, satirical, lightly tragi-comic
Protagonist and Antagonist
N/A
Major Conflict
Lady Windermere believes that her husband, Lord Windermere, is cheating on her with a woman, Mrs. Erlynne, who is new to the city. Lord Windermere, in fact, is giving Mrs. Erlynne money so that she will not reveal she is the mother of Lady Windermere.
Climax
Mrs. Erlynne has the chance to reveal to Lady Windermere that she is her mother, but she decides not to.
Foreshadowing
Mrs. Erlynne hints that she is Lady Windermere's mother before it is fully revealed to the audience.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
N/A
Imagery
As society and propriety are of central importance to the play, denotations of dress and physical movements to one another are important to understanding characters' emotions and relationships as well as the progress of the play.
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
Without knowing about her mother's past actions, Lady Windermere almost makes the same exact decisions her mother, Mrs. Erlynne, once did in leaving her husband and young child.
Personification
N/A
Use of Dramatic Devices
Irony and dramatic irony are the most important dramatic devices used in the play, especially with regard to secrets and notes.
