Oscar Wilde wrote
Lady Windermere’s Fanin response to a request for a play on a modern subject from George Alexander, actor and manager of the St James’s Theatre in London. Initially, Wilde experienced great difficulty in completing the project, reporting in February 1891: “I can’t get a grip of the play yet: I can’t get my people real” (Holland and Hart-Davis, eds, 2000, p. 463). At that stage, he was so despondent that he offered to return the £50 advance provided by Alexander, whom he contacted again during the summer to say that he had still not been able to complete the play. By September, though, he had completed a draft of the four-act comedy, then entitled
A Good Woman, which he offered to Augustin Daly, an American theatrical manager, with a view to having it staged…
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Citation: Markey, Anne. "Lady Windermere's Fan". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 March 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4172, accessed 25 November 2024.]