At the end, when Cheverly picks up the letter on the desk, what is the significance of it and how did it get there? I missed that part. And then later, how did it come into the possession of the wife? Who was it intended for and what secret is the wife keeping from her husband? It seems I missed a lot that focused on this love note.
Always the officiant, never the bride. http://www.withthiskissitheewed.com
There are two important letters in the play/film. One is the letter sent many years ago by the husband. But you're writing, I think, of the second letter.
Remember that after their conversation in the park, Viscount Goring (Wilding) says to Lady Chiltern (Diana Wynard) that he's there if she ever wants him for anything - to discuss matters, or seek advice or help? That she can rely on him? Well, after that next afternoon, her husband admitted he HAD written the letter disclosing state secrets to the Austrian baron many years ago. Lady Chiltern (a somewhat naive, loving, and VERY idealistic woman who adored her husband and thought him "ideal") was staggered that he was capable of such a thing - that the foundation of their material success was based on a lie he had never disclosed to her. Lady Chilterne tells her husband that she had lost her love for him. She decides she must take advantage of Lord Goring's kind offer to consult with him as soon as possible.
Lady Chiltern writes a letter to Goring that is delivered that evening, saying "I want you. I need you. I am coming to you". Goring reads the letter, expects her to visit, but when the doorbell rings, is surprised that it's his father, not Lady Chiltern. Goring quietly instructs his butler that if a woman arrives, she is to be shown into the drawing room.
While Goring is still with his father, it is not Lady Chiltern who arrives, but Mrs. Cheverley. Acting on his instructions, the butler shows the lady into the drawing room. While waiting to see Goring, she snoops around Goring's desk, and sees this letter from Lady Chiltern. She recognizes Lady Chiltern's handwriting. She interprets it of course as a love letter from Lady Chiltern to Lord Goring.
After Mrs. Cheverley is humiliated by Goring - who has refused her insistence on marriage, and made her hand over the incriminating letter written so long ago by Chiltern (due to Goring saying he'll call the police over the stolen broach he'd given to his cousin), Mrs. Cheverley in anger swipes the letter from Lady Chiltern before she leaves. Cheverley is going to get revenge. Mrs. Cheverley sends the letter to Lord Chiltern's office out of malice to show that his wife was having an affair with his best friend, Lord Goring.
However, Lady Chiltern manages to get the letter from her husband's office without Sir Robert ever having seen it. She tells Lord Goring this when he arrives at the house. Lady Chiltern agrees that she'll never tell her husband that she ever even wrote it. Lord Goring (and Wilde) teases her a bit about her altered expectation of perfection from people, her realization that people are in fact fallible, that some things are best left unsaid, and that fallibility deserves a "forgive and forget" attitude from a spouse, more than condemnation.
Excellent explanation! Thank you very much for taking the time to tell me. :)
Always the officiant, never the bride. http://www.withthiskissitheewed.com
You're welcome. However re-reading the post makes me realize how quickly I wrote it - I am a native English speaker - honest!
Incidentally, I forgot to mention that while Mrs. Cheverley still waited to see Lord Goring, Sir Robert Chiltern came in - and when he heard the nise from the drawing room, demanded to know who was there. Lord Goring assumed of course it was Lady Chiltern - and so lied that no one was there - even "on my word of honor". Chiltern opened the door anyway - and saw Mrs. Cheverley - he was furious and left. Then Lord Goring opened the ddrawing room door - and saw to his surprise that it was Mrs. Cheverley.
I assume you saw this on TCM early yesterday morning? (I awoke early and happened to catch it then).
How do you like this version compared to the 1999 version? I like them both. This version is so beautiful (those ball scenes are amazing) but I also feel that this version is deliberately pushing the "long-ago" aspect of the story - which somewhat distances us. This decade's version with John Wood, Rupert Everett, Jeremy Northam, Cate Blanchett, Mina Driver, and Julianna Moore - does not push the nostalgic side of it (perhaps because when you think of it, many in the audience in 1948, would have remembered the 1890s - just as much as much of an audience today would remember the 1960s).
I also think that the enunciation of the sparkling dialogue by Lord Goring is better in the 1999 version - it's less thrown away and under the breath by Rupert Everett than Michael Wilding. As a result, one can appreciate the wonderful humor better in the more recent version.
But I enjoyed both. Wilde is so much fun - and yet his plays always have a very clear point to them - in this case, that forgiveness should trump (even quite properly held) high moral standards -- we all slip morally and to condition love and affection upon another's moral rectitude is wrong.
One of the many things I like about the play/film is that in making this point, Wilde doesn't set up a straw man argument - we are meant to be in no doubt about the wrong done. There is no ambiguity about the wrong - Wilde is never telling us "well, maybe it wasn't so wrong after all" or "look how outdated morality can harm us". He does NOT believe that refusing to sell state secrets for profit - is any kind of outdated morality - it's clearly wrong.
So, what are we to do about this? Well, he doesn't tell us that we should all forgive such a thing - his story is about marriage - not the public at large. And so he feels that within a marriage, such past wrongs have to be forgiven in the interest of love and the realism that we all err.
Have you seen Lady Windermere's Fan? Another great Wilde play - made into great film versions. It sounds some similar themes - and is just as clever.
I just now saw that you responded to my post. You must have thought me ride not to answer. The only reason I have seen it now is because I am watching the film again on TCM and I was reviewing the message boards and saw our exchange. I am not sure why your response hadnot been forwarded to me as most replies usually are. So I apologize for the very long delay.
I have never seen the more recent remake so I cannot speak with any authority on the Punta you made. But, I will try to find it on Netflix and give it a watch.
I'm also writing from my cell phone which is a very tedious task, so I will sign off at this point. Once I see the remake I will surely respond with my thoughts.
Echo
I was a tad confused about the words Lady Chiltern used in her brief letter to Goring. Her words could be construed as romantic in nature, so I thought I missed something! I guess I didn't.
I thought the scenes at Goring's home with the mix-ups and misunderstandings were very entertaining and funny. That part of the film reminded me a little of a Three's Company episode ;)
I took Lady Chiltern's words to mean that she was going to divorce her husband and was coming to Goring to get advice. It could be misconstrued as something romantic, but I don't think it was written with that intent. Goring was not interested in Lady Chiltern in a romantic sense, so it is not logical that she would throw herself at him when her husband's scandal was exposed.
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