Point of View

As a play, The Cocktail Party is written in the third person, omniscient point of view. The three Acts mainly follow the stories of Edward and Lavinia Chamberlayne, and one or both of those two characters are in most every scene, with the exception of portions of the second act. In that act, the point of view involves a sort of behind-the-scenes look at what Reilly, Julia, and Alex are actually up to when it comes to the other characters. This means that the audience is often privy to information that some of the characters do not know. The result is an elevated level of tension as the audience waits to see if the plans of the three controlling characters will work out, and what the result might be.

Setting

The play is set in the late 1940s in London, England. The first and second...