The women’s roles are especially strong, with bonds formed across social class and life situation. The Shadow of a Doubt showcases Wharton’s skill with witty repartee, dramatic tension and superb characterization.
Some of these ideas were later reworked in her best-selling novel, The House of Mirth (1905) as well as in the lesser known novel, The Fruit of the Tree (1907), albeit transferred to an American setting. The Shadow of a Doubt, set at the turn of the twentieth century in London, explores issues of the day, such as social position, remarriage, the roles of women, and euthanasia. The Shadow of a Doubt, produced by Charles Frohman, represented by talent agent Elizabeth Marbury, and starring Elsie de Wolfe, was intended as a matinee for The American Academy at the Dramatic Arts and Empire Theatre Dramatic School. Wharton was an adept playwright and worked with the best talent on Broadway.
Patrick Campbell brought her residuals for years, to Wharton’s surprise. Her translation of Hermann Suderman’s Es Lebe das Leben (The Joy of Living) for actress Mrs.
Several works she called brief “dialogues,” such as “Copy” and “The Twilight of the God.” But she also wrote full length plays, including The Tightrope, now lost. The period 1899-1906 remains especially fruitful. A working manuscript also resides at the Billy Rose Theater Division of The New York Public Library.Īlthough renowned for her fiction in multiple literary genres, Wharton also wrote a series of plays, long forgotten, during her career.
The Shadow of a Doubt (1901), an unknown, original three act play by Edith Wharton, was recovered in 2016 in the Playscripts and Promptbooks Collection (Performing Arts) at the Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
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