Play: Belinda

Overview
A. A. Milne’s Belinda (1918), subtitled “An April Folly in Three Acts,” is a light, high-spirited comedy of manners set in an English country garden. It showcases Milne’s gift for sparkling dialogue, gentle irony, and romantic contrivance. The play centers on Belinda, an attractive, quick-witted “widow” who manages affections, her own and others’, with playful tact. When old love, new suitors, and filial hopes collide over a few April days, Belinda turns potential scandal into springtime harmony.

Plot Summary
Belinda presides cheerfully over her country home, where her grown daughter, Delia, is on the cusp of adult life. Two very different gentlemen call: Mr. Devenish, a young, impressionable poet, and Mr. Baxter, a precise, practical man of business. Each is smitten, at first, with Belinda’s grace and charm. Their rival courtship produces amiable satire: Devenish wafts in on clouds of verse and idealism, while Baxter advances with timetables and sensible proposals.

Complication arrives in the form of a courteous stranger who introduces himself as Mr. Robinson. Belinda recognizes him at once, he is in fact her long-estranged husband, returning after years away. The legal and social awkwardness of his reappearance threatens Belinda’s comfortable identity as a widow and the orderly flow of suitors through her garden. Rather than panic, Belinda plays for time. She toys with Mr. Robinson’s assumed identity, testily affectionate one moment and archly evasive the next, testing whether the man who left her has grown wiser.

Meanwhile, Delia’s presence subtly redirects the romantic energies of the household. Under Belinda’s careful orchestration, Devenish and Baxter find their attentions turning toward the younger woman. Their contrasting virtues, Devenish’s sincerity and imagination, Baxter’s steadiness and practicality, become a comic trial in front of Delia, who comes to see each man clearly. Belinda, balancing maternal care with her own complicated heart, encourages honesty all round.

As secrets peel away, Mr. Robinson drops the mask and openly claims his past with Belinda. Their repartee, half duel, half duet, reveals a bond never quite broken. The April setting hints that old love can bud anew. By the final act, declarations have been sorted, pretenses dropped, and choices made. Delia selects the suitor who proves truest in action rather than pose, while Belinda and her returned husband admit that the years apart have taught them how to be together. The curtain falls on reconciled marriage and an engagement, with everyone smiling under the spring sun.

Major Characters
- Belinda: A witty, charming “widow” who directs events with playful intelligence.
- Delia: Belinda’s daughter, perceptive and poised to choose her own future.
- Mr. Devenish: A romantic poet, idealistic and ardent.
- Mr. Baxter: A businesslike suitor, practical and literal-minded.
- Mr. Robinson: A mysterious visitor revealed as Belinda’s estranged husband.

Themes and Tone
Belinda blends romantic misrecognition, second chances, and the dance between appearance and sincerity. Milne contrasts fancy and fact, poetry versus practicality, without sneering at either. The tone is effervescent, never cruel; laughter arises from human foibles, not humiliation. Spring stands as emblem for renewal: love returns, roles are refreshed, and households reorder themselves without tragedy.

Significance
An early success in Milne’s theatrical career, Belinda exemplifies his hallmark virtues: buoyant wit, elegant structure, and affectionate observation. It sits comfortably beside his later comedies as a model of civilized, generous-hearted entertainment.