The Women
Encyclopedia
The Women is a comedy of manners
by Clare Boothe Luce
.
The play is an acidic commentary on the pampered lives and power struggles of various wealthy Manhattan
socialites and up-and-comers and the gossip
that propels and damages their relationships. While men frequently are the subject of their lively discussions and play an important role in the action on-stage, they are strictly characters mentioned but never seen.
The original Broadway
production, directed by Robert B. Sinclair, opened on December 26, 1936 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
, where it ran for 666 performances with an all-female cast that included Arlene Francis
, Ilka Chase
, and Marjorie Main
.
Crystal: middle 20s, single (until marriage to Stephen), no children, lower-class, fragrance salesperson, flirtatious, deceitful, ambitious, manipulative, unfaithful, disrespectful
Sylvia (Mrs. Fowler): 34, upper middle-class housewife, married to Howard Fowler with no children, gossiper, assertive, disloyal, dishonest, blunt, inconsiderate, selfish
Peggy (Mrs. Day): 25, middle-class housewife (she has money but not her husband), married to John Day with no children (but longs for a child), innocent, compliant, awkward, sympathetic
Nancy Blake: 35, upper middle-class writer, single, possibly bi-sexual (virgin), traveler, blunt, direct, feminist, unemotional
Edith (Mrs. Potter): 33/34, upper middle-class housewife, married to Phelps Potter with 4 children, one dimensional, dull, non-confrontational, does not like children, sexual tendencies, static
Mrs. Morehead: 55, upper middle-class, Mary's mother, presumably a widow, old fashioned/traditional, strict, wise
Countess De Lave: middle-aged, upper middle-class, divorced four times, outgoing, hopeless romantic
The ideal woman in The Women is one who bears children, cares for her husband, while relying on him financially. Women are expected to be perfectly happy fulfilling this role.
2) Marriage
Marriage is viewed in many ways throughout the play. Many characters in "The Women" use it to achieve social advancement, such as Crystal and Miriam. The play also emphasises the impact of children on a marriage and how they can hold a couple together. There are varying ideas on the acceptability of adultery and whether it is treated equally for men and women.
3) Relationships Between Women
-negative view, it's hard for women to truly be friends
-trust is frequently an issue between the women characters
-jealousy is rampant for women throughout the play
-mother daughter relations are touched on----mother often gives advice to her daughter
, Myrna Loy
, Alexis Smith
, Kim Hunter
, Rhonda Fleming
, Jan Miner
, and Camila Ashland
. Other productions have starred Gloria Swanson
and Elaine Stritch
, where it ran for 77 performances. The cast included Kristen Johnston
, Rue McClanahan
, Cynthia Nixon
, Jennifer Coolidge
, Jennifer Tilly
, Heather Matarazzo
, and Hallie Kate Eisenberg
. Fashion guru Isaac Mizrahi
won a Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Costume Design, and Coolidge was nominated as Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. This production was also filmed for the PBS
series Stage On Screen
. The television broadcast premiere took place on June 8, 2002.
was directed by George Cukor
and starred Norma Shearer
and Joan Crawford
. Supporting cast included Rosalind Russell
, Paulette Goddard
, Joan Fontaine
and Mary Boland
. In 1956, the story was made into a musical film titled The Opposite Sex
, starring June Allyson
and Joan Collins
. Diane English
directed and co-wrote a long-in-development contemporary remake
of the film, starring Jada Pinkett Smith
, Meg Ryan
, Eva Mendes
and Annette Bening
, which was released in 2008.
anthology drama series Producers' Showcase
broadcast an adaptation of the play. Paulette Goddard, Mary Boland and Ruth Hussey
, who had each appeared in the 1939 film, also appeared in this production, as Sylvia Fowler, the Countess and Mary Haines, respectively.
Comedy of manners
The comedy of manners is a genre of play/television/film which satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters, such as the miles gloriosus in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration, or an old person pretending to be young...
by Clare Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce was an American playwright, editor, journalist, ambassador, socialite and U.S. Congresswoman, representing the state of Connecticut.-Early life:...
.
The play is an acidic commentary on the pampered lives and power struggles of various wealthy Manhattan
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
socialites and up-and-comers and the gossip
Gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted...
that propels and damages their relationships. While men frequently are the subject of their lively discussions and play an important role in the action on-stage, they are strictly characters mentioned but never seen.
The original Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production, directed by Robert B. Sinclair, opened on December 26, 1936 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 243 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan, named for actress Ethel Barrymore....
, where it ran for 666 performances with an all-female cast that included Arlene Francis
Arlene Francis
Arlene Francis was an American actress, radio talk show host, and game show panelist...
, Ilka Chase
Ilka Chase
Ilka Chase was an American actress and novelist.Born in New York City and educated at convent and boarding schools in the United States, England, and France, she was the only child of Edna Woolman Chase, the editor in chief of Vogue magazine, and her first husband, Francis Dane Chase.Chase made...
, and Marjorie Main
Marjorie Main
Marjorie Main was an American character actress, mainly at MGM, perhaps best known for her role as Ma Kettle in a series of ten Ma and Pa Kettle movies.-Early life and career:...
.
Character Sketches
Mary (Mrs. Haines): middle 30s,upper middle-class housewife, married to Stephen Haines with two children (little Mary and little Stephen), demure, faithful, innocent/positive outlook towards marriageCrystal: middle 20s, single (until marriage to Stephen), no children, lower-class, fragrance salesperson, flirtatious, deceitful, ambitious, manipulative, unfaithful, disrespectful
Sylvia (Mrs. Fowler): 34, upper middle-class housewife, married to Howard Fowler with no children, gossiper, assertive, disloyal, dishonest, blunt, inconsiderate, selfish
Peggy (Mrs. Day): 25, middle-class housewife (she has money but not her husband), married to John Day with no children (but longs for a child), innocent, compliant, awkward, sympathetic
Nancy Blake: 35, upper middle-class writer, single, possibly bi-sexual (virgin), traveler, blunt, direct, feminist, unemotional
Edith (Mrs. Potter): 33/34, upper middle-class housewife, married to Phelps Potter with 4 children, one dimensional, dull, non-confrontational, does not like children, sexual tendencies, static
Mrs. Morehead: 55, upper middle-class, Mary's mother, presumably a widow, old fashioned/traditional, strict, wise
Countess De Lave: middle-aged, upper middle-class, divorced four times, outgoing, hopeless romantic
Themes
1) Ideal WomanThe ideal woman in The Women is one who bears children, cares for her husband, while relying on him financially. Women are expected to be perfectly happy fulfilling this role.
2) Marriage
Marriage is viewed in many ways throughout the play. Many characters in "The Women" use it to achieve social advancement, such as Crystal and Miriam. The play also emphasises the impact of children on a marriage and how they can hold a couple together. There are varying ideas on the acceptability of adultery and whether it is treated equally for men and women.
3) Relationships Between Women
-negative view, it's hard for women to truly be friends
-trust is frequently an issue between the women characters
-jealousy is rampant for women throughout the play
-mother daughter relations are touched on----mother often gives advice to her daughter
Ways in which the play is radical
For the 1930s, a Broadway production featuring an all-women cast was a surprising event. The play's smashing success could be partly attributed to the fetishization of female bodies. By using the women actors as models for new fashion, Boothe had the opportunity to feature new styles of fashion at the expense of female modesty. Although the Mary's character emphasizes the traditional idea of a woman's role in the household as well as the need for the support of a husband, she is quite radical in the decision to take control of her life by initiating a divorce. Contrasting the rather radical ideas about divorce presented in the play, wise Mrs. Morehead, symbolizes the traditional values of an older generation by disapproving of Mary's decision to divorce, showing the evolution of generational values.1973 revival
After seven previews, a revival directed by Morton Da Costa opened on April 25, 1973 at the 46th Street Theatre, where it ran for only 63 performances. The cast included Dorothy LoudonDorothy Loudon
Dorothy Loudon was an American comedy actress and singer. She won the 1977 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Miss Hannigan in Annie.-Early life and career:Loudon was born in...
, Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
, Alexis Smith
Alexis Smith
Alexis Smith was a Canadian-born stage, film, and television actress. She appeared in several major Hollywood movies in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Award in 1972.-Life and career:...
, Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter was an American film, theatre, and television actress. She won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, each as Best Supporting Actress, for her performance as Stella Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire...
, Rhonda Fleming
Rhonda Fleming
Rhonda Fleming , is an American film and television actress.She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most beautiful and glamorous actresses of her day...
, Jan Miner
Jan Miner
Jan Miner was an American actress best known for her iconic role as the manicurist Madge in a 27-year series of television commercials for Palmolive dish-washing detergent....
, and Camila Ashland
Camila Ashland
Camila Ashland , is an actress, best known for her role as Minnie Du Val in the cult series Dark Shadows.Ashland also starred on the soap opera General Hospital as Alice Grant from 1976–1977, and in the 1983 hit NBC miniseries V and its 1984 sequel, V: The Final Battle where she played Resistance...
. Other productions have starred Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
and Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
2001 revival
After 32 previews, a second revival directed by Scott Elliott opened on November 8, 2001 at the American Airlines TheatreAmerican Airlines Theatre
The American Airlines Theatre is a Broadway theatre, located at 227 West 42nd Street, New York City.-Design:Originally named the Selwyn Theatre, it was constructed by the Selwyn brothers, Edgar and Archie, in 1918. It was one of three theatres they built and controlled on 42nd Street, along with...
, where it ran for 77 performances. The cast included Kristen Johnston
Kristen Johnston
Kristen Johnston is an American stage, film, and television actress. She may be most famous for her role as Sally Solomon in the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun...
, Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987.-Early life:McClanahan was born Eddie Rue...
, Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City . She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award....
, Jennifer Coolidge
Jennifer Coolidge
Jennifer Coolidge is an American actress best known for playing "Stifler's mom," the older woman in the film American Pie ; Hilary Duff's stepmother in A Cinderella Story ; Paulette, the manicurist in Legally Blonde and its sequel; the voice of Aunt Fanny in the animated feature Robots ; for her...
, Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...
, Heather Matarazzo
Heather Matarazzo
Heather Amy Matarazzo is an American actress. Her breakthrough role was as a geeky girl in the film Welcome to the Dollhouse . She played Lilly in The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement...
, and Hallie Kate Eisenberg
Hallie Kate Eisenberg
-Early life:Eisenberg was born in East Brunswick Township, New Jersey, the daughter of Amy, who worked as a clown at children's parties, and Barry Eisenberg, who ran a hospital and later became a college professor. She has two siblings, actor Jesse Eisenberg, star of The Social Network, and Kerri...
. Fashion guru Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi is an American TV presenter, fashion designer, and was the creative director of Liz Claiborne. He is best known for his eponymous fashion lines.-Early life:...
won a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Costume Design, and Coolidge was nominated as Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. This production was also filmed for the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
series Stage On Screen
Stage on Screen
Not to be confused with , the London-based company producing DVD versions of classic stage plays and which has produced commercial DVDs of Doctor Faustus , The School for Scandal , Volpone and The Duchess of Malfi ....
. The television broadcast premiere took place on June 8, 2002.
Film versions
The 1939 film versionThe Women (1939 film)
The Women is a 1939 American comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor. The film is based on Clare Boothe Luce's play of the same name, and was adapted for the screen by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin, who had to make the film acceptable for the Production Code in order for it to be released.The film...
was directed by George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
and starred Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s...
and Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
. Supporting cast included Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame...
, Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard was an American film and theatre actress. A former child fashion model and in several Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Girl, she was a major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. She was married to several notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich...
, Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland , known professionally as Joan Fontaine, is a British American actress. She and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s....
and Mary Boland
Mary Boland
-Career:Born Marie Anne Boland in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she was the daughter of William Boland, an actor, and his wife Mary Cecilia Hatton. She had an older sister named Sara....
. In 1956, the story was made into a musical film titled The Opposite Sex
The Opposite Sex
The Opposite Sex is a 1956 musical film.It is a remake of the 1939 classic comedy The Women. Both films are based on Claire Boothe Luce's original play...
, starring June Allyson
June Allyson
June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
and Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
. Diane English
Diane English
Diane English is an American film director, screenwriter and producer, known for creating the sitcom Murphy Brown. She also served as writer and executive producer of the sitcom My Sister Sam.-Life and career:...
directed and co-wrote a long-in-development contemporary remake
The Women (2008 film)
The Women is a 2008 American comedy film written, produced and directed by Diane English. The screenplay is an updated version of the George Cukor-directed 1939 film of the same name based on a 1936 play by Clare Boothe Luce....
of the film, starring Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Koren Pinkett Smith is an American actress, producer, director, author, singer-songwriter, and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. She starred in A Different World, produced by Bill Cosby, and she featured...
, Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American actress and producer. Raised in Bethel, Connecticut, Ryan began her acting career in 1981 in minor roles, before joining the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982...
, Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes is an American actress.She began acting in the late 1990s, and after a series of minor roles and performances in several smaller films such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror and Urban Legends: Final Cut , she broke into the mainstream, appearing in leading roles in Hollywood...
and Annette Bening
Annette Bening
Annette Carol Bening is an American actress. Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee for her roles in The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right, winning Golden Globe Awards for the latter two films...
, which was released in 2008.
Television adaptation
On February 7, 1955, the NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
anthology drama series Producers' Showcase
Producers' Showcase
Producers' Showcase is an American anthology television series that was telecast live during the 1950s in compatible color by NBC. With top talent, the 90-minute episodes, covering a wide variety of genres, aired under the title every fourth Monday at 8 p.m. ET for three seasons, beginning October...
broadcast an adaptation of the play. Paulette Goddard, Mary Boland and Ruth Hussey
Ruth Hussey
Ruth Carol Hussey was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story.-Early life:...
, who had each appeared in the 1939 film, also appeared in this production, as Sylvia Fowler, the Countess and Mary Haines, respectively.