At once a satire of Americans and the English, W. Somerset Maugham’s Our Betters is a witty period piece with rich comedic female roles. Pearl has come to England from America to marry a lord and join the upper ranks of London society. Her younger sister, Bessie, an innocent heiress, has come to London to spend time with her, but Pearl is more interested in seeing that Bessie is married off to the bland Lord Bleane. The arrival of Bessie’s old fiance, Fleming, makes things even more complicated. Rounding out the cast is a colorful group of Americans, all desperately clinging to their artificial identities as elite members of London’s upper class: the snobbish Thornton Clay, the womanizing Tony Paxton, and the clownishly opulent Minnie. Our Betters is pure comedy of manners, full of verbal barbs delivered with a smile and piercing satire of the upper class.
Our Betters guide sections
