The secret woman: A play in five acts

"The secret woman" by Eden Phillpotts is a play written in the early 20th century. Set on Dartmoor, it follows the Redvers family and their neighbors as love, secrecy, and social pressure ignite a domestic tragedy: Ann Redvers, her warm-hearted husband Anthony, their sons Jesse and Michael, and the Westaway sisters—Barbara and the captivating Salome—are drawn into a tangle of desire, debt, and conscience.

The opening of the play establishes Harter Farm’s bustling kitchen and the neighboring Westaways’ money troubles, with hard-nosed creditor William Arscott pressing and Anthony impulsively offering help. Once the Westaways depart, Anthony’s secret passion for Salome is revealed in a moonlit rendezvous marked by his whistled tune, “Widecombe Fair.” Ann discovers them, confronts Anthony, hears his claim that he loves two women, and—when she returns intending to forgive but hears that fatal tune—strikes him in fury so he falls to his death. A year later, at the Westaways’ parlour, Barbara resolves to save her family by agreeing to marry Arscott, while Jesse—still grieving—confides to Salome that Ann’s blow caused Anthony’s fall. Back at Harter, Ann is consumed by religious guilt and longing for punishment, Michael shields her with fierce loyalty, and Jesse argues that free will and “sin” are illusions, battling to bring her peace. The early acts thus pivot from homely realism to a stark moral crisis that divides a family and a community.