Oscar Wilde's 1895 play Lady Windermere's Fan
is one of the four society plays which brought Wilde to the zenith of triumph
in the mid 1890's, only to be overshadowed by the scandalous three trials that led to
his ultimate destruction in that same year.
In typical
Wildean style, Lady Windermere's Fan is a conduit for Wilde to
expose the lives of the aristocrats and other wealthy Londoners for what they really
were: Shallow and superficial.
In Lady
Windermere's Fan it is arguable that the fan is characteristic of Lady
Windermere's behavior as a female,and as a woman that feels betrayed. The fan itself
represents her husband's fondness (it was his birthday gift for her), her superior
status above Mrs. Cheveley (she held the fan in contempt as she waited for her), her
flirtation with Lord Goring (she flirted with Goring using the "fan language"), her want
for revenge (she was ready to beat up Mrs. Cheveley with her fan), her passiveness, and
her aggressiveness, all at the same time.
Comparatively,
Lady Windermere's rival, Mrs. Cheveley, also has a symbol of her own which represents
several aspects of her personality: The diamond brooch.
The
diamond brooch with ruby eyes represents the betrayer and the enemy in the symbolic form
of a snake. Not only does the snake brooch reflect Mrs. Cheveley's cunning ways, but it
also symbolizes her shady past, since she had stolen that brooch. When Lord Goring
recognizes the brooch he points out to Mrs. Cheveley that it also can be used as a cuff
bracelet (reminiscent of the cuffs used by police). This is how he confronted her, thus
trapping her into his knowledge so that she would not go try to ruin Lord
Windermere.
In conclusion, the two female main characters
had symbols that represented their behaviors as well as their diverse roles within the
play.
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