Lady Windermere’s Fan is a naturalistic satirical comedy with elements of melodrama, written in

1892 by Oscar Wilde, where it was performed at St James Theatre, London. The playa follows the
marriage of Lady and Lord Windermere, and explores the relationships and importance of social
conventions of the 19th century. The character of Lord Darlington exists to portray a typical ‘Wildean
Dandy’ of the time, who is hopelessly in love with Lady Windermere. I would perform the role to
show a change throughout the 3 acts; from overconfident to passionately in love, to dejected; there
are three opposing aspects of his character.

As Lord Darlington, I would want to reflect truthfully the appearances of English people at the time.
Due to the high social status that he possesses thanks to his wealth, Lord Darlington would dress in
high quality clothes, to appear as a desirable bachelor. Lord Darlington would be a white man, with a
toned, medium build in his mid-30s; as a friend of Lord Windermere, he would be considerably older
than Lady Windermere. He would be around 5”11, and have dark hair that would be curled behind
his ears – a style of the time. Throughout the play he would wear a white dinner shirt with an
accompanying waistcoat, with a black longboats suit and shoes – not only does this represent a
typical ‘dandy’ in the 19th century, the formality of his outfit reflects his wealth, and the expectations
of how to dress according to social status. I would want to have a voice with a rich, plummy tone and
an RP (Received Pronunciation) accent, to reflect his classic upbringing.

His first appearance at the beginning of Act 1 involves him acting in a flamboyant confident manner.
Therefore, at this moment the ‘Dandy’ aspect of his character is revealed to the audience. Upon
Parker’s announcement of ‘Lord Darlington’, I would walk into the room with a moderate, wide gait
to show a leisurely attitude, and stand centre stage, next to Lady Windermere. I would have a
confident stance, creating this with a straight posture and relaxed shoulders, to show his
masculinity. As he greets Lady Windermere with the line ‘How do you do, Lady Windermere?’ I
would elongate the vowel sounds on ‘how’ and ‘do’ to create a sophisticated, drawling feel. With
raised eyebrows and a slight smirk, this creates a ‘charming’ facial expression that accompanies me
offering my hand to Lady Windermere. However, this is an impolite gesture that was inappropriate
to the time period, as a man should not touch a woman who he is not married to. Whilst Lady
Windermere explains about her roses, I would watch her with an amused expression, with a slightly
cocked smile and raised eyebrows, to show how I am enchanted by this woman. When Lady
Windermere announces that it is her birthday, I would feign disbelief to portray the ‘banterous’ side
to his character. On ‘No? Is it really?’ I would have wide eyes, raised eyebrows, and a dropped jaw as
I said the line, to create over exaggerated disbelief. I would place my hands on my heart on ‘No’, in
order to pretend that I am shocked. I would take a large gasp of breath before the line, pretending
to be shocked. I would say the line in a slightly hushed tone, to further enhance this shock, before
laughing after ‘really’, to show that he is merely joking. I would then move slowly, whilst listening to
Lady Windermere, to a settee further downstage, and sit comfortably, with my arms over the back
of the chair and my legs crossed. On the line ‘I would have covered the whole street in front of your
house with flowers for you to walk on’, I would make an elaborate gesture with my hands, widening
them and stretching them out in front of me, to recreate the ‘whole street’. I would lean back and
throw my head back in an elaborate manner to show the whole-hearted nature of the gesture. I
would close my eyes and smile whilst saying the line to show my pleasure at the thought of this.

‘I wish I had known it was your birthday, Lady Windermere. I would have covered the whole street
in front your house with flowers for you to to walk on. They are made for you’

Awkward comment, gesture, romantic tones

IN LOVE ‘Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity,
worship, love, but no friendship. I love you-‘

‘Yes, I love you! You are more to me than anything in the whole world.’

‘From the moment I met you I loved you, loved you blindly, adoringly, madly’

ACT 3 – walk in dejected

‘Excuse me, you fellows. I’m going away tomorrow and I have to write a few letters’

‘No, we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars’

‘The woman I love is not free, or thinks she isn’t (glances instinctively at Lord Windermere while he
speaks)’

To conclude, I would perform Lord Darlington in a way that enables the audience to see varying sides
to his personality; his confident outer front, against his inner emotions.