The secret woman : A play in five acts by Eden Phillpotts
The Secret Woman by Eden Phillpotts is a play written in the early 20th century. Set among farming folk on Dartmoor, it presents a taut domestic drama of passion, conscience, and community obligation centering on Anthony and Ann Redvers, their sons Jesse and Michael, and the Westaway family—especially sisters Barbara and Salome. It explores infidelity, moral judgment, and the price of loyalty in a close-knit rural world. The opening of the play
places us in the Harter Farm kitchen, where Ann is away nursing her mother, the Westaways face ruin under William Arscott’s mortgage, and Anthony cheerfully promises to help them—while secretly meeting Salome under the moon, their signal the tune “Widecombe Fair.” When Ann returns, she learns he has lied, follows him to Halstock Glen, and sees the lovers together; the next day, after a tortured confrontation in which Anthony insists he loves both women, her brief impulse to forgive snaps at his familiar whistle and she strikes him; he falls into the gully and dies, with dutiful Michael shielding his mother and brooding Jesse reeling. At the start of the third act, creditors gather at Watchett Hill; practical Barbara proposes to Arscott to save the farm and he accepts, while Jesse confides to Salome the truth of Anthony’s death, leaving her outwardly calm but inwardly shaken. A year on, as Act IV begins, Ann’s remorse still darkens Harter, Michael remains fiercely protective, and news confirms Barbara’s marriage as the Westaways’ lifeline. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Phillpotts, Eden, 1862-1960 |
|---|---|
| Title | The secret woman : A play in five acts |
| Original Publication | London: Duckworth and Co., 1912. |
| Credits | Tim Lindell, Jack Janssen and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PR: Language and Literatures: English literature |
| Subject | Marriage -- Drama |
| Subject | England -- Drama |
| Subject | Man-woman relationships -- Drama |
| Subject | English drama -- 20th century |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 77979 |
| Release Date | Feb 19, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 270 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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