Lord Windermere Research Paper

On his wife’s birthday, Lord Windermere presented her with a beautiful, delicately wrought fan with her name, Margaret, engraved upon it. She intended to carry the fan at a ball she was giving that evening, a ball to which everyone of importance in London had been invited. That afternoon, the Duchess of Berwick called on Lady Windermere, to tell her friend of a rumored affair between Lord Windermere and Mrs. Erlynne, a fascinating but notorious woman not received in the best houses. According to the duchess’ story, Lord Windermere had for some months been supplying Mrs. Erlynne with funds for her support. The old dowager suggested that Lady Windermere take immediate steps to learn the relationship between the two.
Lady Windermere was upset.
She gave the letter to a servant to deliver and left for Lord Darlington’s apartments.
Mrs. Erlynne, who with Lord Augustus had remained behind to talk with Lord Windermere, discovered the letter Lady Windermere had written, and the thought of that lady’s rash act brought back old memories. Twenty years before, Mrs. Erlynne had written a similar letter to her husband, and had left him and their child for a lover who had deserted her. Her years of social ostracism had made her a stranger to her own daughter. Perhaps, however, she could keep her daughter from making the same mistake. Lady Windermere should never feel the remorse that her mother, Mrs. Erlynne, had known.
Mrs. Erlynne took Lady Windermere’s letter and hurried to Lord Darlington’s apartments, first persuading Lord Augustus to take Lord Windermere to his club and keep him there for the rest of the night. In Lord Darlington’s rooms, without revealing her identity, Mrs. Erlynne managed to persuade Lady Windermere to think of her child and go back to her husband. Out of the depths of her own bitter experience, Mrs. Erlynne insisted that Lady Windermere’s first duty was not to her husband but to her