Self-Sacrifice By William Dean Howells - Short Summary

 

The play starts in the drawing room of Miss Isobel Ramsay, who is talking to her close friend Miss Esther Garnett.

The play opens with Ramsay asking:

“And they were really understood to be engaged?”

This suspenseful question refers to Mr. Walter Ashley and Miss Emily Fray, but their names are not revealed immediately. Slowly, through their gossip, it becomes clear that Ramsay suspects Ashley and Emily are engaged. However, the information is just gossip, passed on by their friend Conny, who merely guessed based on the fact that Emily spent a summer with Ashley. Meanwhile, Ashley had been visiting Ramsay frequently, raising hopes that he is romantically interested in her. So Ramsay feels hurt and insulted by the possibility that Ashley might be engaged to Emily. Yet, instead of confronting the matter seriously, Ramsay and Garnett engage in frivolous distractions, they talk about tea, chocolates, seating arrangements, and even the pronunciation of the word “primarily.”

 

Miss Garnett questions if they should be upset at all, since it's not clear if Ashley is happy with Emily or even truly engaged to her. Then, to find a solution, Garnett refers to stories and plays: In one play featuring Peg Woffington, the woman gracefully returns her lover to his wife. In another play featuring Kentucky Summers, the heroine behaves badly when her lover visits, making herself appear vulgar to drive him away. Ramsay dismisses the second approach but ironically decides to imitate the "bad woman" strategy anyway.

 

 Nora, Ramsay’s maid, announces that Mr. Ashley is coming to visit. Ramsay prepares for her act: She asks for her brother’s cigarettes and cocktails.

 

Nora is shocked since Ramsay usually calls these things vulgar, but Ramsay insists she wants them because they are vulgar! Ramsay lights a cigarette and waits for Ashley’s arrival, setting the stage for the upcoming confrontation.

Mr. Ashley arrives, happy and eager to meet Ramsay. But he is shocked to see her smoking and drinking a behavior not expected from a woman like her.  Ramsay offers him cigarettes and cocktails, pretending to be indifferent and morally lax. When Ashley looks confused, Ramsay mockingly asks if it’s true that all British women drink and smoke, to which Ashley says he thought American women never did such things.

 

 Ramsay tries to continue her act, but: She coughs terribly after a few puffs of the cigarette. She gets so sick from the smoke that she throws away the cigarette. She asks Ashley to open the window and requests a cup of tea instead of a cocktail!

 As the situation turns awkward, Ashley surprisingly says he likes smoking and drinking and praises Ramsay’s brother’s taste in liquor. Ashley then talks about a story of a married man who falls in love with another woman and asks for Ramsay’s opinion. Ramsay mistakenly thinks Ashley is hinting at his relationship with Emily. Unable to hold her emotions, Ramsay bursts out accusing Ashley of: Deceiving both her and Emily. Cheating on both women.

She ends her furious speech in tears, runs out of the room, and even knocks over chairs in her distress—marking the high emotional climax of the play.

 

After Ramsay leaves, Miss Garnett returns to retrieve her purse and is startled to find Ashley still there. Ashley directly asks Garnett if she told anyone that he is engaged to Emily.

 Garnett nervously reveals that she only assumed it because Conny had speculated about it.

 

Ashley clarifies that: He is not engaged to Emily. Emily is actually engaged to Owen Brooks, who spent more time with her than Ashley did that summer.

 

Garnett is shocked and embarrassed but cannot hide her curiosity. She eagerly asks Ashley:  “Did Miss Ramsay really behave strangely with you?”

 Ashley describes Ramsay’s strange behavior, which excites Garnett, who finds it amusing rather than regrettable. Garnett justifies Ramsay’s actions, explaining that Ramsay pretended to be a "bad woman" to push Ashley back to Emily. Garnett calls Ramsay’s behavior a “noble cause” and assures Ashley that Ramsay is not actually addicted to smoking or drinking. Just as Garnett finishes her explanation, Ramsay returns, still unaware that her misunderstanding has been cleared up.

 

 Ashley gently addresses Ramsay, who pretends to stay reserved but admits she overheard the conversation between Ashley and Garnett.  Ramsay playfully calls herself an eavesdropper and says she is therefore unworthy of being loved.  Ashley handles her with affection:

 

He praises her for her “bad woman” act, even joking that he almost wanted to go back to Emily to relieve Ramsay! He starts calling her by sweet names: first “Isobel,” then “dearest,” then asking if he can call her “darling.”

 

 As they draw closer emotionally and physically, the play ends on a light-hearted romantic note with Ashley saying:  “We are on the home stretch.” This means they are close to becoming a couple.

 

The play is a social comedy based on misunderstanding and gossip.

 

Miss Ramsay, influenced by rumors, pretends to be immoral to drive away Ashley.

 

Mr. Ashley never intended to deceive anyone—he wasn’t engaged to Emily.

 

The play shows humorous situations, farce, and satire on middle-class pretensions.

 

 

It follows a clear comic structure:

Exposition: Ramsay and Garnett’s gossip

Climax: Ramsay’s confrontation with Ashley

Revelation: Truth revealed by Ashley and Garnett

Resolution: Ashley and Ramsay unite.