Lady Windermere's Fan Trivia Quiz

Answer: red and white

They symbolise Lady Windermere's naivety and innocence, and Mrs Erlynne's passion. Wilde seems to believe that a little of both is required in everyone. Their color is not specified in the text at this point, but is referred to later.

Answer: Lord Darlington

Darlington is a very intriguing character. He acts as the catalyst for Lady Windermere's behaviour by hinting to her about her husband's "affair", and therefore the events of the whole play are largely down to him. He attempts to seduce Lady Windermere, and at first he seems to be doing it simply to see if he can rise to the challenge of seducing such a "fascinating Puritan" as her.

However, we later see that the feelings he claims to have are genuine. Oddly, as soon as this is discovered, and he becomes less superficial, he disappears from the play and is not seen again.

Answer: ever to talk seriously about

Lord Darlington is full of these paradoxical sayings. When he is asked to explain one of them, he gets out of it by saying that "to be intelligible is to be found out." (That seems to me like a coverup for the fact that even he doesn't know what he means.)

Answer: they never talk scandal

The Duchess claims that her nieces never spread idle, unsubstantiated gossip. Later, however, she accuses them of "always talking scandal". One of Wilde's techniques is to make the aristocracy in this play as superficial and insincere as possible. They all say what they think the people listening to them want to hear.

This is best illustrated by a short but very funny exchange between Dumby and three ladies at the beginning of Act II, where they are discussing whether Lady Windermere's birthday party will be the last of the season.

Answer: 21

She has "come of age". Lord Windermere keeps referring to her as "child", so although his age is not given, we can imagine he is significantly older than she.

Answer: yes mamma

She says it a total of thirteen times.

Answer: Mr Hopper

He is an Australian gentleman. The scene leading up to the moment when they become engaged is very funny. The Duchess tries to charm Mr Hopper by prentending to know about Australia, commenting on the "dear little kangaroos flying about." As soon as she discovers that Mr Hopper wants her daughter to move with him to Australia, however, she totally changes her attitude, describing it as a "dreadful, vulgar place", with "horrid kangaroos crawling about".

Answer: Mrs Erlynne; she picked it up by mistake and left it there

At this point I should explain the basic plot for those who don't know (before I run out of space!) Lady Windermere (an orphan) is having her 21st birthday, and she is having a celebratory ball. Her husband has given her a fan with her name on it as a birthday present. Lord Darlington arrives, and through his clever use of words, implants the idea in Lady Windermere's head that her husband is having an affair.

This is seemingly confimed when the Duchess of Berwick comes to visit, when she reveals the rumour that Lord Windermere has being spending considerable amounts of money on another woman. Lady Windermere finds her husband's cheque book to look for proof, and does indeed find evidence of large sums of money being paid to a Mrs Erlynne. Lord Windermere returns home, and Lady Windermere confronts him.

Despite the seemingly condemning evidence, Lord Windermere insists that Mrs Erlynne should be invited to the birthday ball, and Lady Windermere refuses to write the invitation, and evens threatens to strike Mrs Erlynne with her fan if she attends. Lord Windermere writes the invitation himself. (Continued in question 9)

Answer: Mrs Erlynne is Lady Windermere's mother

Mrs Erlynne does indeed turn up for the party, and seems to be... well known by many of the men there. Lady Windermere is horrified, but does not carry out her threat to strike Mrs Erlynne. Instead she confides in Darlington, who confuses her by confessing his love for her and asking her to run away with him.

Her morals will not allow her to do this at first, but after he has left she changes her mind. She writes a letter to her husband saying she has left him and their baby son, but he does not receive it. Mrs Erlynne finds it instead, and mysteriously says to herself that she cannot allow history to repeat itself.

She takes the letter and goes to find Lady Windermere.

Answer: They have the same first name (Margaret)

Lady Windermere goes to Lord Darlington's rooms, where she is met by Mrs Erlynne who tries to talk her out of leaving her husband, but Lady Windermere refuses to listen to the advice of a woman she regards as "amoral". The men (Darlington, Lord Windermere, Cecil Graham and Lord Augustus, the Duchess's brother) are heard returning from their night's drinking. Lady Windermere hides behind a curtain and quietly slips out, leaving her fan behind. Lord Windermere sees his wife's fan in the room of another man and demands an explanation. Mrs Erlynne provides it, saying she picked it up by mistake, simultaneously saving Lady Windermere and destroying her own reputation. Later, when Lady Windermere is back at home, her opinion of Mrs Erlynne has totally changed.

However, so has Lord Windermere's. He now think she is utterly degraded due to the incident in Darlington's room, but Lady Windermere sees her as a good woman. It is here that we find out that the reason Lord Windermere is paying Mrs Erlynne is so that she will keep it a secret that she is the mother Lady Windermere believes she has lost. If it is revealed, it will crush the Windermeres' social standing, because Mrs Erlynne left her husband and child, bringing social disdain on herself, just as her daughter was about to do. Mrs Erlynne makes one last visit to the Windermeres, and (as this question says) asks if she may keep the fan, revealing that their names are the same. Lady Windermere then states that she was named after her mother (and somehow still doesn't realise what's going on). Mrs Erlynne leaves after revealing that she is to marry Lord Augustus, and Lady Windermere announces that he is "marrying a very good woman". (Sorry that was so long!)