![]() ![]() ![]() Yet Edward now seems uncertain about Celia, as if he has a mind to return to his wife. Later Edward speaks alone with Celia Coplestone, his mistress, and we learn that they planned on being together pending the breakup of his marriage. The Unidentified Guest even offers to bring his wife back to him. After the party, Edward speaks with a character known as the Unidentified Guest, who seems eerily knowledgeable about Edward’s situation, and offers much superficially wise advice that only serves to confuse Edward. As the play opens he is hosting his wife Lavinia’s cocktail party alone-Lavinia has discovered his affair, and has left him. ![]() The play centers around the offstage infidelity of Edward Chamberlayne. Eliot means to demonstrate that it is the burden of the human race to face tough choices, and live with the consequences. Unlike medieval morality plays, which upbraided audiences to choose good deeds and shun evil, The Cocktail Party simply places its characters in the crucible of choice, and diagnoses their indecision as a malaise. The Cocktail Party is a twentieth century morality play, one that argues that people must accept their burdensome roles as decision makers. The Cocktail Party, The Centenary Edition, Harcourt Brace ![]()
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