" Similarly, in
_The Profligate_, Sir Arthur Pinero no doubt intended us to reflect upon
the question whether, in entering upon marriage, a woman has a right to
assume in her husband the same purity of antecedent conduct which he
demands of her. That is an arguable question, and it has been argued
often enough; but in this play it does not really arise, for the husband
presented to us is no ordinary loose-liver, but (it would seem--for the
case is not clearly stated) a particularly base and heartless seducer,
whom it is evidently a misfortune for any woman to have married. The
authors of these two plays have committed an identical error of logic:
namely, that of suggesting a broad issue, and then stating such a set of
circumstances that the issue does not really arise. In other words, they
have from the outset begged the question. The plays, it may be said,
were both successful in their day. Yes; but had they been logical their
day might have lasted a century. A somewhat similar defect of logic
constitutes a fatal blemish in _The Ideal Husband_, by Oscar Wilde.
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