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| Plot Summary of The Cocktail Party |
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"Edward and Lavinia have been married for five years. But something is not working, and in one of the cocktail parties arranged by Lavinia, she runs away from home. Edward is forced to take over the party, and the guests suspect and harrass him with questions and double-meanings. A psychoanalyst named Reilly is called to solve the problem. He finds out that Edward has been cheating on Lavinia with a woman named Celia, but Lavinia has also been cheating on Edward with a man named Peter, who has left her after he fell in love with Celia. Finally, Edward and Lavinia end their affairs and try to start a new life together."
Augusto Wong Campos, Resident Scholar
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"Edward and Lavinia have been married for five years. But something is not working, and in one of the cocktail parties arranged by Lavinia, she runs away from home. Edward is forced to take over the party, and the guests suspect and harrass him with questions and double-meanings. A psychoanalyst named Reilly is called to solve the problem. He finds out that Edward has been cheating on Lavinia with a woman named Celia, but Lavinia has also been cheating on Edward with a man named Peter, who has left her after he fell in love with Celia. Finally, Edward and Lavinia end their affairs and try to start a new life together."
melissa, Resident Scholar
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"The curtain rises on a smart London cocktail party at the home of Edward Chamberlayne. His wife, Lavinia,has arranged it but is absent. Edward later confides to "the unidentified guest" that Lavinia has left him. On learning that the marriage has lasted five years and there are no children, the guest at first tries to persuade Edward that the parting is a good thing, but in the face of Edward's determination to get her back, promises to bring her the next day. He then leaves. Another guest, Peter, returns to beg Edward to intercede for him with yet another guest, Celia, with whom he is in unreciprocated love. Edward agrees. In the next scene we learn that Edward and Celia have been lovers for some time. They re-consider their relationship in the light of Lavinia's departure and decide to end it. The next day Lavinia returns and the guests reassemble in somewhat mysterious circumstances (except the unidentified one who visits briefly before the others arrive).
In Act Two we learn that the mystery guest is an eminent psychiatrist. He sees first another guest from the party, who has steered Edward to the psychiatrist. Then he has a long conversation with Edward in which Edward reassesses the value of his relationship with his wife. She then enters. She is already a patient. They discuss their relationships with each other and with other partners and decide with great hesitation to go home together. Celia is then seen and admitted to the sanatorium. It is for the very well not the sick.
Act Three is set at a cocktail party at the Chamberlaynes two years later. They have plainly found a modus vivendi - perhaps happiness, certainly contentment. Celia went to do good works in Africa but dies near an ant-hill. The psychiatrist explains that that was her destiny. Otherwise all seem destined to live more or less happily ever after.
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Bernard O'Sullivan, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Cocktail Party |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1900-1920's
Romance/Romance Problems
Yes
Kind of romance:
- playing footsy while inconveniently married
- rekindling lost love/marriage
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- a lawyer creature
Age:
- 40's-50's
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- none
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 2 ()
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
City?
Yes
Style
Is this a play?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- mostly dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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