Blithe Spirit

His career as an author not only initiates the plot but also underscores the play’s thematic concerns about the divide between reality and appearances. An author creates a fiction when they write. Charles plans the séance so he can use the events as inspiration for his next novel, but Charles also creates a fiction in his own life in his performance as a charming and conventional husband. He is a “nice-looking man of about forty, wearing a loose-fitting velvet smoking-jacket” (2). He displays his wit in his conversations, yet the performative aspect to his character is subtly revealed from his first interaction with Ruth. He calls his wife “dear” (4), “my love” (5), and “darling” (5) in an effort to appease her, not out of spontaneous affection. The supernatural pushes him into unfamiliar territory where he reveals his real nature.

Elvira and Ruth paint a dark picture of being married to Charles. Charles, according to Ruth and later Charles himself, has been dominated by women throughout his life. Yet as Ruth observes, “Just because you’ve always been dominated by them, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you know anything about them” (35). He claims to have been dominated by Elvira, but her description of their marriage suggests the opposite.