Arthur Wing Pinero
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray: A Play in Four Acts
"The Second Mrs. Tanqueray: A Play in Four Acts" by Arthur Wing Pinero is a problem play first produced in 1893. When respectable widower Aubrey Tanqueray announces his engagement to Paula Jarman, a woman with a scandalous past, his upper-class friends are horrified. As the marriage unfolds, the couple struggles to bridge the gap between Paula and Tanqueray's proper young daughter, Ellean. But when a shocking connection from Paula's past emerges, it threatens to destroy the fragile bonds holding the family together, leading toward an inevitable tragic conclusion.