A Man of Honour 1912 William Heinemann

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Record Number	MMC_P_MH1912WH
Title	A Man of Honour. A Tragedy in Four Acts
Creator	W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965)
Format	Print Book
Genre / Form	Plays
Publisher	London : William Heinemann
Date	December 1911 [title page reads 1912]
Language	English
Physical Description	p. [ii] THE NOVELS OF W. S. MAUGHAM, p. [iii] half title, p.[iv] ads., p. [v] title, p. [vi] copyright,, p. [vii] "TO GERALD KELLY", p. [viii] epigraph, p. ix-xii PREFACE, p. xiii cast, p. xv CHARACTERS, p. xvi performing rights, 158 pages | 18 cm | Hard Cover
Identifier - Edition	First Edition
Identifier - Cover Colour (Approximate)	Cherry Buckram
Identifier - Dust Jacket	No
Identifier - Other Catalogues	Stott A6b
Description - Characters	Basil Kent Jenny Bush James Bush John Halliwell Mabel Hilda Murray Robert Brackley Mrs. Griggs Fanny Butler
Description - Plot Summary	Basil Kent, a well-educated gentleman, marries Jenny Bush, a barmaid, after he gets her pregnant. Although he does not love her, he thinks that it is the right thing to do. His heart belongs to quite another, a Mrs. Murray, a lady widow of the same kind as his. The marriage turns out to be a disaster and it is living hell for the unmatched couple. Basil is tormented by his regrets and his love for Mrs. Murray. It is too late when he recognizes the mistake he has made, against all worldly advice and common sense, blinded by his high morality. Nevertheless, the one who suffers most at the end is Jenny, who commits suicide when she sees that there is no way for her to gain Basil's love. Basil is left a free man. The play is left open-ended there, presumably it would be too much for the social sensibility at that time to see Basil united with Mrs. Murray on stage and live happily ever after.
Description - Table of Contents	Act I Act II Act III Act IV
Notes	This story Maugham reworks into The Merry-Go-Round, published as a novel a year later, with more intricate plots and more characters. The emotions of Basil, Jenny, and Mrs. Murray are more developed in the novel, as the length allows. Then, the Basil-Jenny relationship is later revisited in Of Human Bondage and becomes the unforgettable Philip-Mildred duo, which is no longer so much about self-righteousness and honour, but human obsession and the loss of self-control. It is interesting to see how Maugham rewrites his characters turning them over the years into more mature ones, rounding them up to suit his fuller understanding of the human condition. The real first edition of A Man of Honour was published in 1903 by Chapman and Hall, only 150 copies exist. At the same time it was published as a supplement to The Fortnightly Review. The play itself was written much earlier, in Rome in 1898. Then came the 1912 Heinemann edition. As Stott warns and explains in great details, the later edition (same for several other plays) by the Dramatic Publishing Company is posterior to Heinemann's, although the year registered on the copyright page is 1903.
Subject	English drama (Tragedy) -- 20th century. English drama (Tragedy)
Cost	US$65 in 2013 2s. 6d. in 1911 | 1,500 copies
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