This section contains 149 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) |
Dear Brutus does not employ sensational or shocking devices. The plot does include mate-swapping and is therefore clearly in the modern tradition. But although John is having an affair with Joanna Trout while he is married to Mabel (and an affair with Mabel while he is married to Joanna), the whole idea of infidelity is represented by nothing more scandalous than an occasional furtive kiss.
As in his play The Admirable Crichton, Barrie again pokes playfully at the aristocratic social structure of monarchical England. Alice Dearth finds no happiness in being the Honorable Mrs. Fred instead of the wife of the seedy painter Will Dearth. And the pretentious Lady Caroline Laney is most happy when she is the wife of the butler Matey, although, like Lady Mary in The Admirable Crichton, she cannot accept social disgrace when she returns to the "real" world of act 3.
This section contains 149 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) |