Four plays

Résumé

"Four plays" by A. A. Milne is a collection of stage comedies written in the early 20th century. The volume showcases witty, light-footed comedies of manners about romance, imposture, and social pretense among the English middle and upper classes. The first play, To Have the Honour, centers on a country-house dinner for a visiting “prince,” tangling a poised young hostess, her irrepressible friend Jennifer, and a circle of eager neighbors in sparkling social satire. The opening of the first play, To Have the Honour, introduces Simon Battersby and his cool, self-possessed daughter Angela preparing a dinner in their Wych Trentham cottage for Prince Michael of the invented-sounding Neo-Slavonia and his secretary Oliver. Villagers Mrs. Faithfull and her dreamy daughter Imogen, earnest Captain Holt and his wife Ethel, sharp-tongued Dr. Ainslie, and the vivacious widow Jennifer arrive, trading quips about royalty, buffer states, and Britishness. The prince charms everyone, then Act II reveals the twist: in private, Jennifer recognizes him as Michael Brown, her vanished husband; he confesses he has “invented” both Neo-Slavonia and his title, while Jennifer confesses she “invented” her status as the late General Bulger’s widow. They spar affectionately but warily, and Jennifer demands he be gone by noon the next day. Michael promptly schemes: he dismisses his secretary, secretly enlists Imogen to deliver a timed letter to him at five minutes to twelve, and prepares “other arrangements.” Rejoining the group, he feigns innocence when Jennifer notes she sent Oliver to him moments earlier, leaving the company puzzled as the social game tightens. (This is an automatically generated summary.)