The Last of the De Mullins: A Play Without a Preface

by St. John Emile Clavering Hankin

Excerpt from The Last of the De Mullins: A Play Without a Preface

Hester Come in, Mr. Brown. I'll tell mother you're here. I expect she's upstairs with father (going towards door).

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Genres: Plays

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1909

About the author

St. John Emile Clavering Hankin was an English Edwardian essayist and playwright. Along with George Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy, and Harley Granville-Barker, he was a major exponent of Edwardian "New Drama". Despite success as a playwright he died by his own hand, and his work was largely neglected until the 1990s.

Hankin's admiration of the work of George Bernard Shaw led him to associate himself with the Stage Society and the Royal Court Theatre. Both groups were supportive of attempts to break loose from the conventionalities of the day. Hankin was actively involved in running the Stage Society, a London theater group that was founded in part to avoid the Lord Chamberlain's censorship.

Hankin's first play, The Two Mr. Wetherbys, was produced by the Stage Society in 1903, and was followed by The Return of the Prodigal (Court Theatre, 1905), The Charity that Began at Home (Court Theatre, 1906), The Cassilis Engagement (Stage Society, 1907) and The Last of the De Mullins (Stage Society, 1908). Hankin also wrote two one-act pieces, The Burglar Who Failed, performed in 1908, and The Constant Lover, first performed posthumously in February 1912. Unlike most comedies, his plays generally end on a note of discord.

Reviews

[Kelli]

I read this to assess it as a possible performance by my acting troupe. I appreciate this as an early feminist work, but nothing really happens? Characters do things and talk a lot, but by the end nothing has changed. Janet lectures everyone about her choices, and that's it. No one changes their mind or develops as a character. There's only a surface-level examination of the De Mullins family's refusal to keep up with the times, and absolutely no consequences for anyone's choices throughout the play. Maybe it looks better on stage, but on the page it fell pretty flat for me.

[Mel]

I went and saw a production of this play last week and was blown away by how incredible it was. It was an amazing piece of early feminist writing, and it was hilarious. The main character Janet was one of the most interesting and complex women I'd seen on stage, she was willful and independent, prone to speaking her mind and totally unrepentant for living life on her own terms. The play addresses the role of women and their place in society. Janet challenges all the assumptions of the time she grew up in, and it is telling how many of the things that are mentioned are still relevant today.

After I saw the play I was determined to track down a copy and found the only older edition for sale. I was so pleased that it was almost word for word the production that I'd seen. (Only a few minor lines were missed out). I think it is wonderful that these things were being discussed on stage in the early part of the 20th century, and done so in such an amusing and passionate way.

I highly recommend this play to everyone.