Mrs. Dane's Defence by Henry Arthur Jones

First produced: 1900; first published, 1905

Type of work: Drama

Type of plot: Social realism

Time of plot: Early twentieth century

Locale: Near London

Principal characters

• Mrs. Dane, a woman of questionable reputation
• Sir Daniel Carteret, a distinguished jurist
• Lionel Carteret, his adopted son, in love with Mrs. Dane
• Mrs. Bulsom-Porter, a gossip
• Mr. James Risby, her nephew
• Lady Eastney, Mrs. Dane’s friend
• Janet Colquhoun, her niece

The Story:

Young Lionel Carteret is madly in love with Mrs. Dane, a woman three years older than he. The difference in their ages is not too important to those who love the young man, but Mrs. Dane’s reputation makes them try to dissuade Lionel from his attachment. Mrs. Bulsom-Porter, a local gossip, has been told by her nephew, James Risby, that Mrs. Dane is actually Felicia Hindemarsh.

Miss Hindemarsh had, five years previously, been involved in a horrible scandal in Vienna, in which she had had an affair with a married man for whom she worked as a governess. The wife, learning of the affair, had committed suicide, and the man himself is still in an insane asylum. Risby, however, had since told Mrs. Bulsom-Porter that he had been mistaken. Although he thought that Mrs. Dane is Felicia Hindemarsh, he is now completely convinced that he had been wrong. In fact, he now declares that Mrs. Dane hardly resembles the sinful Miss Hindemarsh. His retraction means little to Mrs. Bulsom-Porter, who knows absolutely nothing of Mrs. Dane except that she is attractive and charming. Those qualities are enough to make Mrs. Bulsom-Porter hate her, and she continues to spread the story about Mrs. Dane’s past, without admitting that there might be some doubt about her story.

Lionel had been deeply in love with Janet Colquhoun the year before, but is persuaded by Sir Daniel Carteret, his foster father, to wait before he asks her to marry him. Sir Daniel tries to make Lionel see that his latest infatuation might also pass away, but Lionel will not listen to that well-meaning advice. He accuses Sir Daniel of never having known love. The young man does not know that many years before, Sir Daniel had been in love with a married woman. They had decided to defy the conventions and go away together, but on the night of their departure, her son had become dangerously ill. She stayed with her child, and she and Sir Daniel renounced their affections. The woman had been Lionel’s mother. After her death, and the subsequent death of her husband, Sir Daniel adopted Lionel, giving him his name and his love. The young man is so dear to Sir Daniel that he cannot stand to see the boy ruin his life by marrying Mrs. Dane, at least while her reputation is clouded.

Sir Daniel and Lady Eastney, Mrs. Dane’s friend, set about to try to solve the mystery once and for all. Although Risby has retracted his story, Mrs. Bulsom-Porter will not stop spreading the scandal until she is proved wrong beyond a doubt. Mrs. Dane herself will do nothing to stop the gossip, but at last Sir Daniel persuades her to tell him enough about her background to allow an investigation. While he is trying to piece together the facts, Mrs. Bulsom-Porter employs a detective to go to Vienna and find evidence to prove Mrs. Dane is Miss Hindemarsh.

When the detective returns from Vienna, Mrs. Dane meets him first and begs him to declare her innocence. She offers him any sum not to reveal what he has learned. Consequently, when he is asked by Mrs. Bulsom-Porter and Sir Daniel to reveal his findings, he says that those in Vienna who had known Felicia Hindemarsh swore that there is absolutely no resemblance between her and the photograph of Mrs. Dane that he had shown them. His account satisfies everyone but Mrs. Bulsom-Porter. Sir Daniel, Lady Eastney, and even Mr. Bulsom-Porter insist that she sign a retraction and a public apology, but she refuses. She still hopes to catch Mrs. Dane in a lie.

It might be necessary for Mrs. Dane to sue Mrs. Bulsom-Porter for slander, so Sir Daniel continues his own investigation. He talks again with Mrs. Dane, in an attempt to find out everything about her history. She tells him that she had lived in Canada for several years, which made it difficult to trace her past. Then she betrays herself by mentioning her uncle’s name. When Sir Daniel looks up that name and her relative’s place of residence, he finds a reference to a Reverend Hindemarsh.

At first, Mrs. Dane claims that Felicia Hindemarsh is her cousin, and that she had tried to conceal the fact because of the disgrace, but at last she is forced to confess that she is Felicia. Risby and the detective had known the truth but had shielded her because they thought she had suffered enough for her sin.

Mrs. Bulsom-Porter is a troublemaker who needs to be cured of her vicious ways, and no one else wishes to make Mrs. Dane suffer more, so Sir Daniel and Lady Eastney force Mrs. Bulsom-Porter to make a public apology for the scandal she had caused. No one will ever know that she had been right. Lionel wants to marry Mrs. Dane anyway, but Sir Daniel persuades her to forsake him, even though she loves him sincerely. Mrs. Dane had had a child as a result of her unfortunate earlier affair, and Sir Daniel knows that, although Lionel loves her, he will forever remember that she had lied once and might lie again. Also, the man in the case is still living, although insane, and the wise Sir Daniel knows that these facts are no foundation for a successful marriage. Since Lionel will never forsake her, Mrs. Dane must use her love for him wisely and disappear from his life forever. She agrees, never doubting the wisdom of Sir Daniel’s decision, and leaves the region without telling Lionel good-bye.

Because Sir Daniel has been so kind and wise in dealing with Mrs. Dane and Lionel, Lady Eastney accepts the proposal that Sir Daniel had made to her some time before. She knows that she will always feel secure with him. Although Lionel thinks that he could never be happy or fall in love again, he promises to try to carry out his foster father’s wishes. Janet, who tries hard to pretend that their last year’s love is over, kisses Lionel understandingly, promising him better times to come.

Bibliography

Cordell, Richard A. Henry Arthur Jones and the Modern Drama. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1968. Critical study of the playwright’s major works. Describes the genesis of Mrs. Dane’s Defence and comments on its characteristics as a well-made play. Claims Jones succumbed to contemporary pressures that upheld a double standard of morality for men and women.

Dietrich, Richard F. British Drama, 1890 to 1950: A Critical History. Boston: Twayne, 1989. Places Jones in the context of late nineteenth century British drama, highlighting his essential conservatism. Describes Mrs. Dane’s Defence as a problem play in which the author expertly counterpoints character.

Emeljanow, Victor. Victorian Popular Dramatists. Boston: Twayne, 1987. Chapter on Jones explains his popularity with nineteenth century audiences. Comments on the first production of Mrs. Dane’s Defence, asserting that Jones’s characters serve as mouthpieces for conventional British values.

Foulkes, Richard. “Henry Arthur Jones and Wilson Barrett.” In Church and Stage in Victorian England. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Examines the relationship of Victorian theater to the era’s religious movements, describing how playwrights, including Jones, and religious figures sought to create a common nineteenth century British culture.

Jenkins, Anthony. “Terrible Leanings Toward Responsibility.” In The Making of Victorian Drama. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Discusses Jones as one of seven influential nineteenth century British dramatists. Accuses him of succumbing to conventional morality in Mrs. Dane’s Defence. Claims his defense of the facade of respectability places him on the side of those who believed in preserving traditional British values at all costs.

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 Jones, the index lists numerous references to Jones and his work. These references help place his work in the context of Victorian-era theater.

Taylor, John Russell. The Rise and Fall of the Well-Made Play. London: Methuen, 1967. One chapter discusses Jones’s career and the popularity his plays enjoyed at the beginning of the twentieth century. Considers Mrs. Dane’s Defence “one of the classics of English well-made drama.” Analyzes the play’s structure and explains why Jones fails to be convincing in his ending.