Gerald Arbuthnot bursts into afternoon tea to announce that Lord Illingworth intends to take him under his wing as secretary. The gently barbed chat turns at once to exclamations of congratulation but also of amazement. For Illingworth is a powerful political figure- as well as a rake- while Gerald is a callow youth, unschooled in the ways of the world. Mrs. Arbuthnot, Gerald's mother, further confounds the assemblage by objecting to the high honor that has befallen her son. Oscar Wilde spins out the plot, filled with intrigues and revelations from the past, with a satisfying final come-uppance for... Ah, but why not come and see for yourself?