Mid-Channel by Arthur Wing Pinero

First produced: 1909; first published, 1910

Type of work: Drama

Type of plot: Psychological realism

Time of plot: Early twentieth century

Locale: London

Principal characters

• Zoe Blundell, an attractive, intelligent woman
• Theodore Blundell, husband of Zoe
• Honorable Peter Mottram, a friend of the Blundells
• Leonard Ferris, Zoe’s lover
• Ethel Pierpoint, fiancé of Leonard
• Mrs. Pierpoint, Ethel’s mother
• Alice Annerly, Theodore’s lover

The Story:

Mrs. Pierpoint and her daughter, Ethel, visit Zoe Blundell to inquire about the possibility of Leonard Ferris as a suitor for Ethel. Mrs. Pierpoint wants Zoe’s opinion because Leonard is one of Zoe’s tame robins, a group of male friends and admirers who gathers around Zoe. Unknown to the Pierpoints, Zoe’s marriage is breaking up and Leonard is sexually attracted to Zoe. Zoe at first believes her relationship with Leonard is harmless because she feels much, much older than he. Leonard is thirty-two years old, five years younger than Zoe, but he is a “fresh, boyish young man” and Zoe is a “mature woman.” Zoe’s husband, Theodore, is forty-six years old.

Zoe’s perspective reflects society’s double standard that an older man may be interested in a younger woman but an older woman should not be interested in a younger man. After the Pierpoints leave, Leonard arrives to see Zoe and confesses he does not want to marry anyone, although he is attracted to Ethel because she reminds him of Zoe.

Leonard leaves and the Honorable Peter Mottram arrives to discuss Zoe’s marriage problems. Peter, a friend of Zoe and Theodore who also functions as an informal marriage counselor between the Blundells, tells Zoe that her marriage is like some trophies on a shelf. The trophies themselves are not valuable so much as the struggle to win them. Zoe, he thinks, has to keep the trophies—like her marriage—new and fresh. Then Theodore arrives, and Peter tries to talk Theodore into mending the marriage. Peter gives another analogy: He describes a body of water between Folkestone and Boulogne in which there is a midchannel, a shoal that causes the passengers of a boat to experience rough travel. Peter says, “Everythin’s looked as enticin’ as could be; but as we’ve neared the Ridge—mid-channel—I’ve begun to feel fidgety, restless, out o’ sorts—hatin’ myself and hatin’ the man who’s been sharin’ my cabin with me.” He tells the Blundells the crisis will end if they can wait. After Peter leaves, the Blundells do not heed his advice. Instead, they fight, and Theodore walks out on Zoe.

Some time later, Leonard and Zoe return from a tour of Italy. They had a brief affair in Perugia and should have been more discreet. Claud Lowenstein saw them together at the Brufani Hotel. Upon returning to London, Leonard and Zoe learn that Theodore has been dating Alice Annerly, a thirty-year-old divorcé. Zoe has a fever, a physical reflection of her declining moral state. Peter reappears and tries to get Zoe and Theodore to mend their marriage. He again uses an analogy. This time it concerns two cracked Ming vases. Would it not, he ask, be better to repair the broken vases than to throw them away? After Peter leaves, Ethel arrives to discuss her relationship with Leonard. She tells Zoe that Leonard has come close to proposing marriage, but that he has changed since Italy and she fears he looks different, as if he has gotten “mixed up with some woman of the wrong sort.” Leonard’s guilt, like Zoe’s, is also having a physical effect on him. Ethel innocently asks Zoe’s help in saving him. Zoe says she will. Ethel leaves, and Leonard returns.

Zoe confronts Leonard about his relationship with Ethel, and he admits he has been close to proposing marriage. Zoe says they should break up so that he can return to Ethel. Instead, Leonard confesses his love for Zoe and asks her to marry him. Zoe first responds with laughter, then anger. She calls him a coward and tells him she never wants to see him again. He leaves furious.

Theodore and Alice Annerly discuss Theodore’s relationship with Zoe. Theodore has discovered that he is still fond of his wife and unhappy with Alice. He tells Alice their relationship has ended. Alice tells him she feels compromised; Theodore writes Alice a check for fifteen hundred dollars. Alice leaves and Peter comes back, telling Theodore that Zoe wants to reunite. Theodore has been miserable without her and is anxious to be with her again. Zoe enters at this point, and Theodore asks her if she can forgive him for Alice. Zoe says she will. Encouraged by Theodore’s confessions, she asks him to forgive her for the affair she had with Leonard. Theodore is outraged. He says he wants a divorce if Leonard will agree to marry Zoe.

Zoe and Theodore have a showdown. Leonard tells Zoe he plans to return to Ethel. Zoe approaches him thinking he will still marry her. Leonard returns from the meeting with Zoe in which he had proposed to her and rips apart her pictures. He then goes back with Ethel. Talking with Leonard in his room, Zoe finds that the pictures of her are no longer there; she is out of his life. When Theodore arrives to ask if Leonard will marry Zoe, she leaves the room thinking that Leonard belongs with Ethel, and she has no one. Leonard tells Theodore, however, that he will still marry Zoe. While the two men converse, Zoe kills herself by jumping off the balcony.

Bibliography

Cunliffe, John W. Modern English Playwrights: A Short History of the English Drama from 1825. 1927. Reprint. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1969. Shows how Mid-Channel was received in the United States and Great Britain. Claims, however, that the play is overrated by American critics.

Dawick, John. Pinero: A Theatrical Life. Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1993. Comprehensive account of Pinero’s personal and professional life, based in part on the writer’s correspondence and unpublished materials from his literary estate. Discusses Pinero’s plays and other writings within their theatrical and social contexts, particularly the Victorian concern about respectability.

Nicoll, Allardyce. British Drama: An Historical Survey from the Beginnings to the Present Time. 5th rev. ed. London: Harrap, 1978. Discusses Pinero’s treatment of theme, the lack of sentiment, and cynical point of view. Describes Pinero’s views of human weakness and how he acquired the reputation of one of London’s master playwrights.

Powell, Kerry, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Victorian and Edwardian Theatre. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Although no essay in this book focuses on Pinero, the index lists numerous references. Helps place Pinero’s work within the larger context of Victorian- and Edwardian-era theater.

Roy, Emil. British Drama Since Shaw. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1972. Claims Pinero needed to be more rebellious in his dramatic works. Argues that his drama functioned as middle-class escapist theater.