The Princess And The Butterfly Or The Fantastics

AFTER The Benefit of the Doubt, Arthur W. Pinero's next play was a lighter comedy, entitled The Princess and the Butterfly: or The Fantastics, which was first produced in London, at the St. James's Theatre, on March 29th, 1897. This piece was undertaken frankly by the author in one of those vacational intervals in which he is accustomed to permit himself a rest from major labours. The theme of this fantastic composition is the longing for youth that is felt at forty years of age; and Mr. Bernard Shaw, in the pages of the Saturday Review, did not scruple to point out that Pinero's interest in this subject' arose doubtless from the fact that he himself had recently turned forty. In this five-act comedy, the leading characters, - Sir George Lamorant and The Princess Pannonia, - have passed the milestone of the forties and have arrived at that comfortable state of mind which permits them to arrange and to accept a marriage of friendship and convenience. But this arrangement is interrupted when the Princess is attracted to a scholarly young man whose youth is more emphatic than his scholarship, and when the hero is attracted by the charms of a wild and whirling girl who-being very young - has been wished upon him as a ward. Youth appeals to youthfulness - or even to the memory of youthfulness - as the deep calls unto the deep; and, in the end, the Princess and the Butterfly shake hands and part, to find a new access of happiness in concert with the fresh and dauntless energy of youth. This was Pinero's answer- in 1897 - to what Mr. Shaw defined as "the tragic preoccupation with the honors of middle age." -The Social Plays of Arthur Wing Pinero, Volume 2

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from The Princess and the Butterfly: Or the Fantastics; A Comedy in Five Acts About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.