ABSTRACT
The modern English drama was ushered into being on the night of May 27th, 1893, when The Second Mrs. Tanqueray, by Arthur Wing Pinero, was acted for the first time on the stage of the St. James's Theatre in London. The Second Mrs. Tanqueray is particularly valuable for illuminating purpose because it attempts to make constructive use of a potential liability in the dramatic conventions it inherits and exploits; this demonstrates simultaneously the strengths and weaknesses. Critical exploration of The Second Mrs. Tanqueray has indeed focused on limits in the play, but more often negatively than positively. A further problem for critics is the play's puzzling use of the family friend, Cayley Drummle. Drummle functions, in part, to help the audience become conscious and potentially critical of stock responses to the world on-stage, and also, in part, to help the audience become conscious and potentially critical of established values in the world of the play.
