Evening Dress

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About this book

A tired husband and a demanding social engagement set the trouble in motion in this farce by William Dean Howells. Edward Roberts has returned from a sleepless night on the train, but his wife Agnes insists that he attend Mrs. Miller's musicale. In their apartment at Boston's Hotel Bellingham, she rehearses the instructions he must remember, with proper evening clothes at the top of the list. Her concern for his comfort competes with her fear of offending their hostess.

The comedy grows through hurried dialogue, repeated reminders and the practical difficulty of getting dressed. Willis Campbell joins the effort, opening bureau drawers and proposing alterations as clothing piles up around them. Stage directions make their movements and exasperation part of the joke. Readers can enjoy a compact play about social obligation, domestic arrangements and the confusion that confident advice can create.

About the author

William Dean Howells

William Dean Howells (1837 to 1920) was one of the most influential American men of letters of his era, an editor, critic, and prolific novelist. He championed literary realism, supported writers like Mark Twain, and used his own fiction to examine money, class, and conscience in American society.