When We Are Married

E640892

"When We Are Married" is a 1938 comic play by English dramatist J. B. Priestley that follows three respectable couples whose social standing is thrown into chaos when they discover their marriages may not be legally valid.

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf comic play
play
stage work
author J. B. Priestley NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom
countryOfSetting England NERFINISHED
dateWritten 1938
dramaticConflict threat to the couples' social respectability
dramaticForm comedy of manners
dramaticStructure ensemble piece
dramaturgicalStyle realist comedy
form three-act play
genre comedy
farce
hasCharacterType clergy
domestic servants
journalist
respectable middle-class couples
hasDramaticIrony yes
hasHumourStyle character-based humour
situational comedy
verbal wit
hasNarrativeDevice revelation of invalid marriages
hasTone comic
satirical
influencedBy English social comedy tradition
intendedAudience adult theatre audiences
isFictional true
languageOfWork English
medium theatre
notableFeature focus on three middle-class couples
numberOfActs 3
originalLanguage English
partOf J. B. Priestley plays NERFINISHED
placeInAuthorCareer one of J. B. Priestley’s notable comedies
plotSummary Three respectable couples discover their marriages may not be legally valid, throwing their social standing into chaos.
settingPeriod early 20th century
subjectMatter hypocrisy
marriage
respectability
social class
theme conventional morality
marital relationships
public image versus private reality
the fragility of social status
writer J. B. Priestley NERFINISHED
yearOfWork 1938

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

J. B. Priestley notableWork When We Are Married