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| The Constant Wife | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by | W. Somerset Maugham |
| Characters | Mrs. Culver Bentley Martha Culver Barbara Fawcett Constance Middleton Marie-Louise Durham John Middleton FRCS Bernard Kersal Mortimer Durham |
| Date premiered | November 1, 1926 |
| Place premiered | Ohio Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | comedy of manners |
| Setting | A house in Harley Street, 1920s |
The Constant Wife, a play written in 1926 by W. Somerset Maugham, is a comedy whose modern and amusing take on marriage and infidelity gives a quick-witted, alternative view on how to deal with an extramarital affair.[1]
A “sparkling comedy of ill manners”,[2] The Constant Wife features the resourceful and charming Constance Middleton, who has long known that her husband had been having an affair with her best friend, Marie-Louise. When the affair is publicly acknowledged, rather than reprimanding or divorcing him, she embraces the opportunity to create an independent life, starting a new job, paying her husband for room and board, and taking on her own lover.
The Constant Wife was later published for general sale in April 1927.[3]
The Constant Wife was most recently on Broadway in 2005, where Variety described it as "an antecedent to the women of Sex and the City”.[4] The production's Kate Burton (Constance) and Lynn Redgrave (her mother) were nominated for Tony Awards.
- ^ "The Constant Wife". Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ Barnes, Clive (17 June 2005). "'Constant': It's a Wonderful 'Wife'". New York Post. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ Rogal, Samuel J. (1997). A William Somerset Maugham Encyclopedia. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. xv. ISBN 0-313-29916-1.
- ^ Rooney, David. "The Constant Wife". Variety. Retrieved 15 August 2018.