Plays

John Galsworthy's A Family Man and related scenes trace the fault lines beneath respectability, where public honor and private desire collide. In the comfortable provincial home of John Builder, a prosperous, self-satisfied businessman, family duty becomes a weapon: he courts civic advancement, flirts uneasily with the French maid Camille, and tries to force a reconciliation with his estranged daughter Athene, only to expose the emptiness behind his authority. Maud's desperate warning, the inspection of Athene's studio, and the arrival of Guy Herringhame deepen the crisis, until Athene herself reveals that her refusal to marry is rooted in what she has learned from her parents' unhappy marriage. The play's wider world is equally charged with class tension and brittle codes of conduct. In a country-house and later a London gentlemen's club, De Levis accuses the respected Ronald Dancy of theft, setting off a struggle over proof, loyalty, and social exclusion. As senior men close ranks to protect reputation, the accusation reveals how money, sport, prejudice, and masculine honor govern the world these characters inhabit. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.