As with all Maugham's work, this play is well written. I found it amusing on the surface but rather sad underneath.

This play centers on the relationships between several English people living in Cairo. Sir Arthur Little, a middle-aged man in the British civil service, has recently married a much younger woman, Violet, thus crushing the hopes of his close friend and contemporary Anne and ousting his widowed sister Christina from control of the household. Anne's younger brother Ronald is working for Sir Arthur as secretary. As the play opens, we find the Littles entertaining in honor of the visiting Appleby's, an MP & his wife from the North-country manufacturing district.

It soon becomes apparent that Anne, at least, is worried that there is something between her brother Ronny and Violet and she has pulled strings to have the Foreign Office transfer him to Paris. However, the Khedive has asked Sir Arthur to find him an English secretary who knows Arabic. While Christina would like Arthur to appoint her son Henry, Ronny is a better man for the job.

That sets up the central conflict -- Ronny loves Violet, who is married to Arthur -- it is Arthur, Gueniviere, and Lancelot in a modern setting.. Does Arthur know? Should Christina tell him so that her son can get the job? If Anne tells him, would she be able to win over his heart? All good scenarios but none of them is what happens. The hint is in the title, Caesar's wife.

Turns out Arthur knew all along. He still keeps Ronny in Cairo since he is the best man for the job. Both Ronny and Violet are 'honorable' and so wouldn't dream of doing something so vulgar as having an affair so theirs is a doomed love. Arthur asks Violet, for the sake of the British Empire's mission in Egypt and Ronny's career in the Foreign Office, to try to behave irreproachably (hence the Caesar's wife bit).

I felt that the behaviour and responses were all very believable, in terms of the time (1920s) and setting of the play. Typing this review has made some of the plot seem less plausible in retrospect but while reading it, it felt true. ( )

"I think the lady doth protest too much." This play is billed as a comedy, but I found little (no?) amusement in it. Maybe actors can bring out the humor, but the words themselves did not. The story is one of star-crossed lovers and is rooted in its time--which didn't age well for me. The threads are all knit up in the end, but not necessarily as one would expect. I'll try another of his plays, but if it doesn't work for me, I stick to his novels. ( )

As with all Maugham's work, this play is well written. I found it amusing on the surface but rather sad underneath.

This play centers on the relationships between several English people living in Cairo. Sir Arthur Little, a middle-aged man in the British civil service, has recently married a much younger woman, Violet, thus crushing the hopes of his close friend and contemporary Anne and ousting his widowed sister Christina from control of the household. Anne's younger brother Ronald is working for Sir Arthur as secretary. As the play opens, we find the Littles entertaining in honor of the visiting Appleby's, an MP & his wife from a North-country manufacturing district.

It soon becomes apparent that Anne, at least, is worried that there is something between her brother Ronny and Violet and she has pulled strings to have the Foreign Office transfer him to Paris. However, the Khedive has asked Sir Arthur to find him an English secretary who knows Arabic. While Christina would like Arthur to appoint her son Henry, Ronny is a better man for the job.

That sets up the central conflict -- Ronny loves Violet, who is married to Arthur -- it is Arthur, Gueniviere, and Lancelot in a modern setting. Does Arthur know? Should Christina tell him so that her son can get the job? If Anne tells him, would she be able to win over his heart? All good scenarios but none of them is what happens. The hint is in the title, Caesar's wife.

Turns out Arthur knew all along. He still keeps Ronny in Cairo since he is the best man for the job. Both Ronny and Violet are 'honorable' and so wouldn't dream of doing something so vulgar as having an affair so theirs is a doomed love. Arthur asks Violet, for the sake of the British Empire's mission in Egypt and Ronny's career in the Foreign Office, to try to behave irreproachably (hence the Caesar's wife bit).

I felt that the behaviour and responses were all very believable, in terms of the time (1920s) and setting of the play. Typing this review has made some of the plot seem less plausible in retrospect but while reading it, it felt true. ( )