His Wife’s Good Name

Examiner of Plays' Summary:

This is a melodrama of the lurid type the villain, Morris, has designs on Nell, wife of Lieut. Jim Stanhope RN who is the son of Sergt. Major Stanhope. The sergeant has a flighty young daughter, Maisie. Morris lures Maisie to his lodgings, Nell comes to rescue her, and owing to Maisie’s and Morris’s lying, the sergeant believes that Nell is the sinner. Then Morris shoots Jim blinding him. The sergeant turns Nell and her child out of doors. Maisie is found living with Morris. He, being tired of her, poisons her and puts her body in a trunk; this is done in the dark, so that it is impermissibly horrible. It is enough to and that Jim recovers his sight and finds his much wronged wife and the villain is arrested. The main part of the play, though unpleasant, has nothing in it needing excision. Part of the comic relief, however does. The comic characters get jumbled up and one comic male finds the wife of the other in his bed and his wife arriving suspects the worst etc. It is merely broad farce but it will not do. The reference is in act IV, scene 2, pp.8-10 (slip) I think it is sufficient to direct that these pages must be modified and that there must be no getting into and out of bed in this scene. Otherwise the piece is recommended for license. G S. Street