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زوجة لا تنفعل
بطولة:
ليلى طاهر - كمال حسين - إحسان القلعاوي - عايدة كامل - رشوان توفيق - ناهد سمير - تريز دميان - أحمد الناغي - سمير عبد العزيز.
ليلى طاهر - كمال حسين - إحسان القلعاوي - عايدة كامل - رشوان توفيق - ناهد سمير - تريز دميان - أحمد الناغي - سمير عبد العزيز.
Audiobook
First published April 2, 1927
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About the author
W. Somerset Maugham
1,695books5,797followersWilliam Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. He spoke French even before he spoke a word of English, a fact to which some critics attribute the purity of his style.
His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.
Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as 'such a tissue of clichés' that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way.
During World War I, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service . He travelled all over the world, and made many visits to America. After World War II, Maugham made his home in south of France and continued to move between England and Nice till his death in 1965.
At the time of Maugham's birth, French law was such that all foreign boys born in France became liable for conscription. Thus, Maugham was born within the Embassy, legally recognized as UK territory.
His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.
Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as 'such a tissue of clichés' that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way.
During World War I, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service . He travelled all over the world, and made many visits to America. After World War II, Maugham made his home in south of France and continued to move between England and Nice till his death in 1965.
At the time of Maugham's birth, French law was such that all foreign boys born in France became liable for conscription. Thus, Maugham was born within the Embassy, legally recognized as UK territory.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
July 11, 2021
A classic what's good for the goose is good for the gander story.
I listened to the L.A. Theatre Works audio version of this play and thought the cast did a wonderful job of bringing Maugham's play to life.
I'd never heard of this before a friend recommended it to me, so I didn't really know what to expect. I have to say that I was a bit frustrated by Constance at first, as she seemed perfectly content to not only allow her husband's affair with her best friend to roll of her back, but actively encouraged everyone else to be completely ok with it.
She pulled a fast one on him, and basically everyone else in her life, at the end which made up for it, though.
This was one of those really interesting looks at what it meant to be a woman, specifically a married woman, in the not too distant past.
Written in 1927, it has a surprisingly feminist slant to the story. It pokes holes in what women were told was expected of them vs what they were told was expected of their husbands. Men cheat because they can't help it, and women should look the other way and try to make themselves more attractive so they can keep their men interested. You definitely wouldn't have an affair of your own, because that's just not done! After all, your husband is your monetary support system, so you owe them your loyalty. If they stray, well, whatcha gonna do with those silly rascals?
Constance was pragmatic in the way only someone who has been married for a long time can be about things like love & romance, and I respected the hell out of her choices by the end.
I listened to the L.A. Theatre Works audio version of this play and thought the cast did a wonderful job of bringing Maugham's play to life.
I'd never heard of this before a friend recommended it to me, so I didn't really know what to expect. I have to say that I was a bit frustrated by Constance at first, as she seemed perfectly content to not only allow her husband's affair with her best friend to roll of her back, but actively encouraged everyone else to be completely ok with it.
She pulled a fast one on him, and basically everyone else in her life, at the end which made up for it, though.
This was one of those really interesting looks at what it meant to be a woman, specifically a married woman, in the not too distant past.
Written in 1927, it has a surprisingly feminist slant to the story. It pokes holes in what women were told was expected of them vs what they were told was expected of their husbands. Men cheat because they can't help it, and women should look the other way and try to make themselves more attractive so they can keep their men interested. You definitely wouldn't have an affair of your own, because that's just not done! After all, your husband is your monetary support system, so you owe them your loyalty. If they stray, well, whatcha gonna do with those silly rascals?
Constance was pragmatic in the way only someone who has been married for a long time can be about things like love & romance, and I respected the hell out of her choices by the end.
December 23, 2020
كان استماعاً ممتعاً لفلسفة مومرست موم في الزواج والعلاقة بين الجنسين ، أبدع فيها في التعبير عن أفكاره في فهم سيكولوجية الرجل والمرأة ، ولو أنه كان من الصعب الاقتناع بوجود امرأة تفكر وتدير شؤونها بهذا البرود المستفز ، إلا أنك حين تفكر بما أراد لها موم أنْ تكون امرأة بعقليّة رجل ، هادئة وفطنة ، حينها ربما ستصلك رسائل موم المبطنة لفهم الرجل و كيفية التعامل مع أفعاله ...
لن أتوانى عن شكرك ، لا لأنكَ أحببتني ، بل لأنكَ ألهمتني الحب .. 🌹
لن أتوانى عن شكرك ، لا لأنكَ أحببتني ، بل لأنكَ ألهمتني الحب .. 🌹
July 22, 2019
فن من فنون إعادة السهم لراميها
من مأمنه قامت بأخذه و أصابته في مقتل
من مأمنه قامت بأخذه و أصابته في مقتل
July 23, 2019
🔹️الي� كذلك يا حبيبي ؟
▪بل� يا حبيبتي.
🔹️لع� من الطبيعي ان يختلف الزوج مع زوجته حول مدى وسامتي حبيبها المستقبلي-الذي هو امامه-
🔹️ب� انني تمتعت بالحرية الإقتصادية ⬅️الأستقلالية
و لم اعد الطفيلة عليك
فاتمتع بالحرية الجنسية
⬅️و الدافع هو عشقه لي و إخلاصه في عشقه
.انني اريد ااتمتع بشعور ان اكون محبوبة
بعد ان اهملتني طيلة شهور.
🔹️ه� اعود بعد رحلتي لمدة 6 اسابيع مع رجل لا احبه لكنه يعشقني ؟
▪نع� عودي يا ملعونة
و انا بكل شهامة و كبرياء و رغبة واحدة ان أ دق عنقه و عنقها من الحيرة و الغرابة ...!!!!!!!
رابط استماع :
10/juil/19 🌹
▪بل� يا حبيبتي.
🔹️لع� من الطبيعي ان يختلف الزوج مع زوجته حول مدى وسامتي حبيبها المستقبلي-الذي هو امامه-
🔹️ب� انني تمتعت بالحرية الإقتصادية ⬅️الأستقلالية
و لم اعد الطفيلة عليك
فاتمتع بالحرية الجنسية
⬅️و الدافع هو عشقه لي و إخلاصه في عشقه
.انني اريد ااتمتع بشعور ان اكون محبوبة
بعد ان اهملتني طيلة شهور.
🔹️ه� اعود بعد رحلتي لمدة 6 اسابيع مع رجل لا احبه لكنه يعشقني ؟
▪نع� عودي يا ملعونة
و انا بكل شهامة و كبرياء و رغبة واحدة ان أ دق عنقه و عنقها من الحيرة و الغرابة ...!!!!!!!
رابط استماع :
10/juil/19 🌹
June 22, 2021
تعجبني فلسفة الكاتب وعقلانيته الهادئة في أسلوب التعامل بين الرجل والمرأة.
نموذج المرأة العاقلة،التي تنتزع حقها بكل هدوء وبساطة وتكيل الصاع صاعين...
نموذج المرأة العاقلة،التي تنتزع حقها بكل هدوء وبساطة وتكيل الصاع صاعين...
February 9, 2013
Oh, how amazing indeed was this play! I loved it to death. It is a play in three acts, where it is discussed between a mother and daughter that their son/brother-in-law, John Middleton, is having an affair, with his wife Constance's best friend, Mary Louise Durham. They are on the verge of divulging this to her, yet she non-nonchalantly dismisses every attempt, apparently leading her no where closer to the truth. However, in the following act, the temptress' own husband discovers the personal effect of John, and accuses him in the full audience of his wife, Constance's family and close friend Bernard. *inhale-exhale*
I don't want to give away the rest, but one should REALLY watch/read this to find out Constance's reaction, her brilliant retaliation. Oh, it's so good, so wonderful!
I don't want to give away the rest, but one should REALLY watch/read this to find out Constance's reaction, her brilliant retaliation. Oh, it's so good, so wonderful!
February 15, 2019
كيف للإنسان أن يعرف إذا ما كان يحب-
عزيزتي إني أعرف أن هناك اختبارا واحدا فقط وهو: هل تقلبين أن تستعملي فرشاة اسنانه؟*
!كلا-
إذا فأنتِ لا تحبينه*
:D
May 20, 2020
“Oh, my dear, you mustn't be offended just because I’ve taken away from you the satisfaction of thinking that you have been deceiving me all these months.�
An amusing play that revolves around marriage and infidelity. Several themes were addressed, including the independence of women and the way society looks at infidelity between men and women. How can we be tolerant of adultery committed by men when it is unforgivable if it concerns women? What is wrong is wrong, no matter who did it.
An entertaining read, I highly recommend it.
An amusing play that revolves around marriage and infidelity. Several themes were addressed, including the independence of women and the way society looks at infidelity between men and women. How can we be tolerant of adultery committed by men when it is unforgivable if it concerns women? What is wrong is wrong, no matter who did it.
An entertaining read, I highly recommend it.
September 17, 2014
Ahhh me. There really is nothing like a good dose of intelligence and sheer wit. Especially concerning a well-crafted revenge served cold. Simply delicious. Constance is the model of all that I admire in a woman; manipulating her vulnerable position in society to its fullest free state, not to mention keeping every inch of her dignity the entire way through. John was finished from the beginning, and only knows at the very end just how deeply he's trapped in the web he himself began. And Marie-Louise. Ha. The poor thing, how empty her life must be without this sort of intellectual entertainment. So nice of a read. So nice.
October 29, 2020
Never explored much of Maugham outside of a few short stories and an attempt to read Of Human Bondage, which I hope to tackle very soon. Didn't consider him much of a playwright. Pleasantly surprised.
June 29, 2018
#إذاعةالبرنامجالعام
#الشريفخاطر
#الأدبالانجليزى
#زوجةلاتنفعل
اصل الاختيار:
نادرا ما كنت أهجر الكتب الصوتية او القراءة أو حتى المسلسلات التاريخية ولكن مع فترة الارهاق والتعب الاخيرة تتبدل الامزجة ولكن عود كريم ...وان شالله ميقطعلنا عادة
الحقيقه انه كان اختيار ممتاز لفت نظرى ليس الاسم وإنما ديما الشريف خاطر المخرج والمترجم وبدايات حبى معه ع اذاعة البرنامج العام منذ كنت طفلة..
حكاية المسرحية:
زوج يخون زوجته مع اعز صديقاتها ولكن ليست هى القضية القضية ان الجميع يعلم ويتوهم انه يخبأالسر ع الزوجة بما فيهم امها وصديقتها من باب ان هذا من المغفور له للزوج وانه نوبه وهتعدى وان لازم ولابد وحتما ان تكون الزوجه هى المقصرة....اما بالنسبه للأخت الصغرى فتستشيط غضبا وتريد معرفة أختها وتواجه زوجها حتى وان تطلب الطلاق ثورة لكرامتها ...الحقيقه ان الزوجة تعلم تمام العلم أن زوجها يخونها لا وتفاجئ الجميع أنها ليست نوبته الأولى ولكنها راضية بل والأدهى والامر حينما يكتشف زوج صديقتها الخيانه ويواجهها بالامر تبرئ صديقتها وزوجها وتسعى لرد اعتبارهم امام زوج الصديقه....فالوقت نفسه الذى يظهر حبيب الزوجة القديم ويطلب منها ترك زوجها لانه مازال ع وعده لها ولكن ذكرته هى أنها من تركته وذهبت لزوجته وقالت ان خيانته عادية ويكفيهم انهم متزوجين منذ 25عام لم يخونها إلا ف العشر الاواخر عندما بدأ الحب يفتر وينظر إلى سيقان السيدات ويزهد إلى مافى يده قالت انها.ممنونه لانه يغدق عليها المال والسيارات والمجوهرات والملابس فهو قد اشترى ولائها منذ زمن حتى وان الزوج شخصيا كان يمكنه أن يشترى أجمل منها بمهر اقل مماتكبدة لديها...لا تفكر الزوجة غير ف الاستقلال المادى تكد ليل نهار وتتعب ف الوقت اى تهاجر فيه الصديقه الخائنه ويتقرب منها المحب القديم جل همها كان ان ترجع الأموال التى صرفها عليها ثم تفهمها ان هناك علاقه بين حبيبها رغم أنها من قال نص لحبيبها انه اشترى تمن اخلاصها
لا تريد سوى ان تراه يتالم مثل المها تحافظ ع البيت لا لأجل البنتين ولكن لانها مازالت تحب زوجها القديم وتكن له انه حارب م اجلها ايام دفع مهرها وكانت اقل من وجهة نظرة وتترك الحبيب قائلة انك دوما وابدا تبدو كرجل انجليزى محترم ووسيم
انطباعى:
لااندم ابدا ع اختيار أعمال الشريف خاطر دوما ماتلعب ع عقلى وعاطفتى
#الشريفخاطر
#الأدبالانجليزى
#زوجةلاتنفعل
اصل الاختيار:
نادرا ما كنت أهجر الكتب الصوتية او القراءة أو حتى المسلسلات التاريخية ولكن مع فترة الارهاق والتعب الاخيرة تتبدل الامزجة ولكن عود كريم ...وان شالله ميقطعلنا عادة
الحقيقه انه كان اختيار ممتاز لفت نظرى ليس الاسم وإنما ديما الشريف خاطر المخرج والمترجم وبدايات حبى معه ع اذاعة البرنامج العام منذ كنت طفلة..
حكاية المسرحية:
زوج يخون زوجته مع اعز صديقاتها ولكن ليست هى القضية القضية ان الجميع يعلم ويتوهم انه يخبأالسر ع الزوجة بما فيهم امها وصديقتها من باب ان هذا من المغفور له للزوج وانه نوبه وهتعدى وان لازم ولابد وحتما ان تكون الزوجه هى المقصرة....اما بالنسبه للأخت الصغرى فتستشيط غضبا وتريد معرفة أختها وتواجه زوجها حتى وان تطلب الطلاق ثورة لكرامتها ...الحقيقه ان الزوجة تعلم تمام العلم أن زوجها يخونها لا وتفاجئ الجميع أنها ليست نوبته الأولى ولكنها راضية بل والأدهى والامر حينما يكتشف زوج صديقتها الخيانه ويواجهها بالامر تبرئ صديقتها وزوجها وتسعى لرد اعتبارهم امام زوج الصديقه....فالوقت نفسه الذى يظهر حبيب الزوجة القديم ويطلب منها ترك زوجها لانه مازال ع وعده لها ولكن ذكرته هى أنها من تركته وذهبت لزوجته وقالت ان خيانته عادية ويكفيهم انهم متزوجين منذ 25عام لم يخونها إلا ف العشر الاواخر عندما بدأ الحب يفتر وينظر إلى سيقان السيدات ويزهد إلى مافى يده قالت انها.ممنونه لانه يغدق عليها المال والسيارات والمجوهرات والملابس فهو قد اشترى ولائها منذ زمن حتى وان الزوج شخصيا كان يمكنه أن يشترى أجمل منها بمهر اقل مماتكبدة لديها...لا تفكر الزوجة غير ف الاستقلال المادى تكد ليل نهار وتتعب ف الوقت اى تهاجر فيه الصديقه الخائنه ويتقرب منها المحب القديم جل همها كان ان ترجع الأموال التى صرفها عليها ثم تفهمها ان هناك علاقه بين حبيبها رغم أنها من قال نص لحبيبها انه اشترى تمن اخلاصها
لا تريد سوى ان تراه يتالم مثل المها تحافظ ع البيت لا لأجل البنتين ولكن لانها مازالت تحب زوجها القديم وتكن له انه حارب م اجلها ايام دفع مهرها وكانت اقل من وجهة نظرة وتترك الحبيب قائلة انك دوما وابدا تبدو كرجل انجليزى محترم ووسيم
انطباعى:
لااندم ابدا ع اختيار أعمال الشريف خاطر دوما ماتلعب ع عقلى وعاطفتى
May 5, 2013
I knew about ’s serious novels � , , , and � but I didn’t know he’d written any humorous pieces � nor that he had penned so many plays!
The Constant Wife reminds me of 's plays, particularly with its surprise ending. In Maugham’s play, a woman with the symbolically bourgeois name of Constance Middleton appears unwitting of her husband’s flagrant affair with Constance’s best friend, Marie-Louise Dunham. Constance’s sister, Martha, wants to enlighten Constance, while Constance’s mother thinks Constance would be better off in ignorance. Constance’s other friends, too, fear that the shock would be too great for her.
Unbeknownst to all parties, Constance secretly knows all about her husband’s adultery. After 15 years of marriage, Constance, now aged 35, has more options than her family and friends give her credit for. And Constance proves that she who laughs last will laugh � and last � best.
This dramatized audio version of The Constant Wife is nearly as good as having had a seat at the Tony Award-winning 2005 Broadway revival, as it has some of the same cast.
The Constant Wife reminds me of 's plays, particularly with its surprise ending. In Maugham’s play, a woman with the symbolically bourgeois name of Constance Middleton appears unwitting of her husband’s flagrant affair with Constance’s best friend, Marie-Louise Dunham. Constance’s sister, Martha, wants to enlighten Constance, while Constance’s mother thinks Constance would be better off in ignorance. Constance’s other friends, too, fear that the shock would be too great for her.
Unbeknownst to all parties, Constance secretly knows all about her husband’s adultery. After 15 years of marriage, Constance, now aged 35, has more options than her family and friends give her credit for. And Constance proves that she who laughs last will laugh � and last � best.
This dramatized audio version of The Constant Wife is nearly as good as having had a seat at the Tony Award-winning 2005 Broadway revival, as it has some of the same cast.
September 16, 2020
الزوجة لم تنفعل، و لكن القارئة انفعلت 🌚.
الزوجة تصرفاتها طول المسرحية تدل على ذكاء فذ، و عقلية تكتيكية جهنمية.
من شخصياتي المفضلة.
الزوجة تصرفاتها طول المسرحية تدل على ذكاء فذ، و عقلية تكتيكية جهنمية.
من شخصياتي المفضلة.
January 10, 2021
فلسفة الرواية غريبة شوية عن طبيعة النفس البشرية
و لكن أعتقد أنها بتناقش فكرة إن كيدهن عظيم
الزوجة كونستناس المستفزة بطبعها حين علمها بخيانة زوجها لها وصبرها للرد على ما فعله بها فيما بعد
رأيت نفسى فى دور الأخت المندفعة ولكن لكل مقام مقال , كونستانس الزوجة حفظت ماء وجه زوجها حين علم زوج ميرى لويز بالخيانة وإنتقمت منه بمنتهى البرودة وقلب التربيزة
نعم لها حين قالت فى بداية الرواية
هل يمكن لزوج خيانه زوجها دون علمها ؟
ولا نجيب على الأسئلة الصريحة بإجابات صريحة
و لكن أعتقد أنها بتناقش فكرة إن كيدهن عظيم
الزوجة كونستناس المستفزة بطبعها حين علمها بخيانة زوجها لها وصبرها للرد على ما فعله بها فيما بعد
رأيت نفسى فى دور الأخت المندفعة ولكن لكل مقام مقال , كونستانس الزوجة حفظت ماء وجه زوجها حين علم زوج ميرى لويز بالخيانة وإنتقمت منه بمنتهى البرودة وقلب التربيزة
نعم لها حين قالت فى بداية الرواية
هل يمكن لزوج خيانه زوجها دون علمها ؟
ولا نجيب على الأسئلة الصريحة بإجابات صريحة
February 20, 2019
She eats well, sleeps well, dresses well and she’s losing weight. No woman can be unhappy in those circumstances.
� The Constant Wife
� The Constant Wife
July 5, 2012
A copy of this play was shelved in the incorrect section at my local library, where I stumbled upon it and realized I’ve never read any of Mr. Maugham’s work. I decided the universe was telling me to rectify this literary omission. I know nothing about the man, but I do know I really like this play. It’s a 1920s comedy of manners with an unexpected dash of feminism � and misogyny. I finished it not knowing if I should be cheering or appalled. The play opens with friends and family of Constance Middleton debating whether to inform her of her husband’s infidelity (with her best friend). What I adored about this play was the abundance of interesting female characters. This is a play for actresses � not one or two, but a whole company of talented actresses, none of whom are wilting ingénues. Those with a bent towards women’s rights should check out this play and decide for themselves whether its subversive feminism or horrifically chauvinist. Highly recommended.
May 15, 2020
" الحرية الوحيدة التي أعرفها هي الحرية الاقتصادية ، الرجل الذي يتولى الدفع سيأتي يوم ويطلب المقابل
والآن استطيع أن أخبرك فلتذهب إلى الجحيم ''
طريقة رد الصاع صاعين على نار هادئة 😂
والآن استطيع أن أخبرك فلتذهب إلى الجحيم ''
طريقة رد الصاع صاعين على نار هادئة 😂
December 23, 2015
المسرحية العربية بعنوان زوجة لا تنفعل
استطاع سومريست موم أن يظهر الخيانة في حلة مختلفة
ففي مجتمعاتنا الشرقية مثلاً يقولون أنه مجتمع ذكوري يحق فيه للرجل بكل شئ ينافي الأخلاق بينما لا يبيحه للمرأة
استطاعت الزوجة التي لا تنفعل (كونستانس) أن تكشف علاقة زوجها بصديقتها الفاتنة
وبالرغم من كشفها للخيانة إلا أنها صبرت واحتملت بل وأنقذتهما من الموقف أمام زوج صديقتها الثائر في ثبات يحسدها عليه القريب والغريب
واعترفت أمها بأن الرجال علي مختلف الثقافات يريدون تعدد الزوجات
وأدركت أن عليها الاستقلال المادي لأن هذا ما يجعلها تحتاج لزوجها هذا ، وآثرت أن تستمر علاقة زواج قائمة علي المصلحة والمنفعة وأن يفعل كل منهم ما يحلو له
أثارت غيرة زوجها برجل كان خاطبها منذ خمسة عشر عاماً فما منه إلا أن اعترف بأنه في مجتمع ذكوري أيضاً يرضي من الرجل ما لا يرضاه من المرأة
المؤلف
------
منصف
بعيد عن الملل
استطاع سومريست موم أن يظهر الخيانة في حلة مختلفة
ففي مجتمعاتنا الشرقية مثلاً يقولون أنه مجتمع ذكوري يحق فيه للرجل بكل شئ ينافي الأخلاق بينما لا يبيحه للمرأة
استطاعت الزوجة التي لا تنفعل (كونستانس) أن تكشف علاقة زوجها بصديقتها الفاتنة
وبالرغم من كشفها للخيانة إلا أنها صبرت واحتملت بل وأنقذتهما من الموقف أمام زوج صديقتها الثائر في ثبات يحسدها عليه القريب والغريب
واعترفت أمها بأن الرجال علي مختلف الثقافات يريدون تعدد الزوجات
وأدركت أن عليها الاستقلال المادي لأن هذا ما يجعلها تحتاج لزوجها هذا ، وآثرت أن تستمر علاقة زواج قائمة علي المصلحة والمنفعة وأن يفعل كل منهم ما يحلو له
أثارت غيرة زوجها برجل كان خاطبها منذ خمسة عشر عاماً فما منه إلا أن اعترف بأنه في مجتمع ذكوري أيضاً يرضي من الرجل ما لا يرضاه من المرأة
المؤلف
------
منصف
بعيد عن الملل
March 9, 2022
سمعتها في البرنامج الثقافي للاذاعة المصرية وكان بصوت ليلي طاهر وحرفيا كان في كمية استفزاز رهيب بسبب هدوء البطلة في كل موقف بس هي فعلا بتحكم الامور بعقلها لدرجة كبيرة وبتنجح في حياتها بسبب ده، وبرضه الرواية بتوضح الفرق بين التفكير الذكوري والأنثوي في العلاقات
January 1, 2023
Laugh-out-loud funny. I loved Constance!
April 8, 2025
Breezy, entertaining, well written, feels modern.
November 26, 2023
I regret not having a hard copy of this play to proudly display in different corners in my house and urge guests to pick it up and read it so we could role play it later.
I never read plays before and I’m lucky to have read this as my first 😍
Aside from it being classified under comedy, this play is an expose of the economic position of woman within marriage. It also takes in the matter of infidelity and societal expectations regarding gender roles.
A message beautifully delivered with a peck of wittiness.
I never read plays before and I’m lucky to have read this as my first 😍
Aside from it being classified under comedy, this play is an expose of the economic position of woman within marriage. It also takes in the matter of infidelity and societal expectations regarding gender roles.
A message beautifully delivered with a peck of wittiness.
Read
August 10, 20193.5
August 8, 2020
Listen here: L.A. Theatre Works production
Written in 1926, almost three decades after Oscar Wilde's death, Maugham's “The Constant Wife� nonetheless felt like an undiscovered play by Wilde, complete with a matron (Mrs Culver), a butler (Bentley) and a mistress (Marie-Louise), who also happens to be the heroine Constance's best friend.
Constance Middleton, married to a successful wealthy surgeon in London for the past 15 years, has been aware of his string of infidelities for some time. The play opens with a discussion between three of Constance's closest and dearest, her mother Mrs Culver, Constance's sister Martha and a friend Barbara Fawcett, pondering whether or not Constance should be told about her husband's affair with her best friend, Marie-Louise. It turns out that Constance has known for some time but has deliberately stalled others from openly telling her.
At an age when women would rather feign ignorance than to suffer the indignity of going through life as a divorced woman, or worse, be without financial security, Constance's decision to turn a blind eye to her husband's affairs wasn't in fact a calculated move to maintain the status quo. Instead, rather than succumb to victimhood, Constance seizes the opportunity to partner with her friend Barbara's interior designing business and re-engage flirtations with a former admirer (Bernard) who is still in love with her. When her husband's affair was about to be exposed, Constance instead chooses to lie, not to protect her husband or her best friend but to "buy time" so she could have the last laugh instead.
Thoroughly witty, with many unexpected twists to delight, I can't wait to see this in the theatre!
Written in 1926, almost three decades after Oscar Wilde's death, Maugham's “The Constant Wife� nonetheless felt like an undiscovered play by Wilde, complete with a matron (Mrs Culver), a butler (Bentley) and a mistress (Marie-Louise), who also happens to be the heroine Constance's best friend.
Constance Middleton, married to a successful wealthy surgeon in London for the past 15 years, has been aware of his string of infidelities for some time. The play opens with a discussion between three of Constance's closest and dearest, her mother Mrs Culver, Constance's sister Martha and a friend Barbara Fawcett, pondering whether or not Constance should be told about her husband's affair with her best friend, Marie-Louise. It turns out that Constance has known for some time but has deliberately stalled others from openly telling her.
At an age when women would rather feign ignorance than to suffer the indignity of going through life as a divorced woman, or worse, be without financial security, Constance's decision to turn a blind eye to her husband's affairs wasn't in fact a calculated move to maintain the status quo. Instead, rather than succumb to victimhood, Constance seizes the opportunity to partner with her friend Barbara's interior designing business and re-engage flirtations with a former admirer (Bernard) who is still in love with her. When her husband's affair was about to be exposed, Constance instead chooses to lie, not to protect her husband or her best friend but to "buy time" so she could have the last laugh instead.
Thoroughly witty, with many unexpected twists to delight, I can't wait to see this in the theatre!
September 6, 2021
This kept me company on my Saturday morning, thanks to the production by . What a fantastic organization they are! The recording from a 2010 live performance features Kate Burton as Constance, a role she had previously honed on Broadway. Now that's acting! (The voice of Kate's Constance is the way I sound to myself, in my head, by the way. A somewhat younger version of her/me would be brilliant as Dorothea Brooks in some impossibly ideal dramatized version of .) Starved for plays in philistine Shenzhen, I'll start really working my way through the LATW back-catalog now.
The Constant Wife isn't promising as it opens. Catty women gossip about a friend of theirs whose husband is having an affair. The play is called an antecedent of Sex and the City, but I was put more in mind of Golden Girls -- pat one-liners and boring middle-class values. However, as the show went on the piece has much to say of marriage, and it scores a few smart points on economic independence of women, as well. One wonders just how edgy it was, endorsing economic and sexual liberation for a wife, in 1926. It certainly does say something about the staying power of the marriage institution that the jokes and conflict remain relevant, nearly a hundred years later. Even gay men, if shacked up long enough, can seldom arrange their own affairs as effectively as Constance.
The Constant Wife isn't promising as it opens. Catty women gossip about a friend of theirs whose husband is having an affair. The play is called an antecedent of Sex and the City, but I was put more in mind of Golden Girls -- pat one-liners and boring middle-class values. However, as the show went on the piece has much to say of marriage, and it scores a few smart points on economic independence of women, as well. One wonders just how edgy it was, endorsing economic and sexual liberation for a wife, in 1926. It certainly does say something about the staying power of the marriage institution that the jokes and conflict remain relevant, nearly a hundred years later. Even gay men, if shacked up long enough, can seldom arrange their own affairs as effectively as Constance.
April 13, 2024
Constance Middleton’s sister, Martha, believes it is her duty to make Constance aware of her husband, John’s, on-going affair with her best friend, Marie-Louise, however her mother is just as insistent that Martha keep quiet and mind her own business believing no good could come of enlightening Constance.
But they are all surprised when the truth is exposed and it is apparent that Constance knew all along and has an unconventional approach to her husband’s philandering, which she explains.
This play is similar to Oscar Wilde’s comedies and, in order to fully appreciate it, the reader needs to remember it was first published almost 100 years ago in 1926 and was aimed at the upper middle class and above. To arbitrarily compare it to all classes and to the 21st century is to miss out on the fun.
Interestingly, prior to the play’s conclusion, both the narrator of Vanity Fair and Constance Middleton share the same opinion of the upper class wife as a parasite upon the unfortunate upper class husband. What do you think?
But they are all surprised when the truth is exposed and it is apparent that Constance knew all along and has an unconventional approach to her husband’s philandering, which she explains.
This play is similar to Oscar Wilde’s comedies and, in order to fully appreciate it, the reader needs to remember it was first published almost 100 years ago in 1926 and was aimed at the upper middle class and above. To arbitrarily compare it to all classes and to the 21st century is to miss out on the fun.
Interestingly, prior to the play’s conclusion, both the narrator of Vanity Fair and Constance Middleton share the same opinion of the upper class wife as a parasite upon the unfortunate upper class husband. What do you think?
January 2, 2019
У Моэма явный пунктик на тему самодостаточной и финансово независимой женщины. Она звучала в "Узорном покрове", теперь звучит и здесь.
Пьеса наполнена британским юмором. Много смешных, тонких и верно подмеченных деталей. Героиня ничуть не похожа на Китти, верно и по-ослиному упорно ступающую на одни и те же грабли, и воплощает собой все те качества, которые последняя надеялась привить своей дочери. И вроде всё закончилось хорошо, и отношения честные, и абсолютно (!) равноправные, ровные и даже тёплые. А по итогам всё равно ужасно грустно от этого прагматизма и правды.
Пьеса наполнена британским юмором. Много смешных, тонких и верно подмеченных деталей. Героиня ничуть не похожа на Китти, верно и по-ослиному упорно ступающую на одни и те же грабли, и воплощает собой все те качества, которые последняя надеялась привить своей дочери. И вроде всё закончилось хорошо, и отношения честные, и абсолютно (!) равноправные, ровные и даже тёплые. А по итогам всё равно ужасно грустно от этого прагматизма и правды.
January 4, 2022
Given that this play was written in 1926, I should have given it 5-stars. However, with the sexual and feminist revolutions, it has not aged as well as it might. Read it with the era and England firmly placed in your hearing, and be amazed at the strength of Constance's character, her views on sex and sexuality, and the importance of women being financially independent. I'm certain to have been shocked 50-years ago, but now read it almost as a Ho Hum. Unfortunately, characters other than Constance are fairly shallow. Nevertheless, enjoy her for who she is.
May 19, 2024
Most would say it’s bad enough Constance has had to exist with the knowledge that her husband and best friend are having an affair, but now that they know she knows, they’d each like her help in breaking it off with the other one. The only thing that might be in her favor is that she may not care too much to begin with for her own reasons. A fair amount of madcap fun. I’d watch this one if it were ever staged.
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