A Counterfeit Presentment is a play written by American author and playwright William Dean Howells in 1877. The play is a comedy in the genre of literary realism and tells the story of a chance encounter between a young woman, Constance, and a man whom she mistakes for her ex lover, Bartlett. However, Bartlett is not completely aware of Constance's neurotic behavior until he gets to know her a bit more. Her true personality is only truly expressed after she forces Bartlett to stay with her in the hotel so she can pretend he is her former beau. Howells uses comedy to reveal the deeper issue of the plight of unmarried middle and upper-class women in the 19th century.
Synopsis Act One: An Extraordinary Resemblance
Set at the Ponkwasset Hotel in Boston, the first act begins with Bartlett and his friend Cummings having a conversation about Bartlett's love life. Bartlett is depressed and has turned into a misanthrope because a girl he went on a date with was not interested in him anymore. As Bartlett is cursing all women and voicing his anger toward the entire female race, Cummings tries to cheer his friend up. He tells him the story of a girl who is still miserable about a break up that happened two years ago in hopes to prove to Bartlett that women do, indeed, have hearts. While they are speaking, General Wyatt, barges in yelling and cursing at Bartlett, ordering him to leave the hotel immediately. Then, when Constance and her mother enter the room, Constance faints at first sight of Bartlett. However, as General Wyatt approaches Bartlett he realizes that he has made the terrible mistake of yelling at a man he has never met before. Nevertheless, Bartlett is very upset and disturbed at the entire situation and storms out of the hotel. Cummings stays to speak with General Wyatt and realizes the general is terribly sorry for his earlier behavior. Once they are alone, General Wyatt tells Cummings the reason why he acted the way he did. Two years ago, Mrs. Wyatt brought Constance to Paris and Constance fell in love with an American man. However, when General Wyatt met the man he was very skeptical about him and soon found out that he was actually married. As a result of this unfortunate discovery, General Wyatt forced this man to end all relations with Constance, leaving her absolutely miserable and harboring a great deal of resentment towards her father, which has lasted for the past two years. Ironically, this was the same exact story that Cummings was telling Bartlett about just a few minutes ago. Although General Wyatt initially insisted that Bartlett leave the hotel premises to protect Constance, when Bartlett returns the general begs him to stay at Constance's request. Despite some initial skepticism, Bartlett agrees to stay.
Act Two: Distinctions and Differences
The second act of the play opens with Constance and Mrs. Wyatt having a private conversation in their room. Constance is an extremely dramatic young woman—she loves to cause a scene and is constantly seeking the undivided attention of all those around her. Like many other women in the late 19th century, she is primarily focused on getting married and starting a family. Before her relationship fell apart, Constance believed that the man she met in Paris was to be her husband and she had finished the race to matrimony. However, Constance still has not come to terms with the fact that her relationship with that man is over forever. She enjoys to pity herself in front of others and frequently tells her mother that she feels as though she is an evil vampire that repulses all men. Not being able to fathom listening to Constance's trivial problems anymore, Mrs. Wyatt shifts the conversation to the rift in Constance's relationship with her father. Ever since her father compelled her lover to end their relationship, Constance has blamed him for her misery and solitude. General Wyatt and Constance used to have a good relationship but now they are very distant to each other and Constance is extremely vocal about the resentment she feels towards her father. Mrs. Wyatt chastises Constance for her poor attitude towards the general, "How can you treat your father so coldly? Give me the pain if you must torment somebody. But spare your father, -- spare the heart that loves you so tenderly, you unhappy girl". She explains to her that General Wyatt did what was necessary to protect Constance and she should have a little more self-respect to not be so miserable, as well as more respect for her father, her ultimate protector. When Constance is finally alone, she invites Bartlett into her room to observe and question him in an attempt to find any similarities, besides looks, between Bartlett and her former lover. At first Bartlett does not realize Constance's intentions but once he does, he angrily storms out of the room. Bartlett and General Wyatt decide to go on a walk to the docks and Mrs. Wyatt comes back into Constance's room. Almost immediately after Mrs. Wyatt is with Constance, they see four men carrying someone up the hill through the window. True to form, Constance causes a huge, emotional scene. She springs up, exclaiming that her father is dead: “Oh, yes, yes! It’s papa! It’s my dear, good, kind papa! He’s dead; he’s drowned; I drove him away; I murdered him!” It's almost uncertain whether she was happy or sad at the possibility of her father being dead. Bartlett, witnessing this absolute hysteria, is very puzzled by such dramatic and preposterous actions by a seemingly proper young woman and questions his decision to stay at the hotel.
Act Three: Not at All Alike
The third and shortest act in the play is set six weeks later. Cummings returns to the hotel and to his surprise Bartlett has been staying with the Wyatts for the past six weeks. Bartlett, as usual, begins talking about his emotions with Cummings and admits to falling in love with Constance. However, aside from his love for Constance, Bartlett is secretly very offended by Constance's actions towards him—he has slowly become aware of the fact that the only reason she enjoys his company is because his features remind her of her former lover. Seeing that Bartlett is truly at a loss, Cummings advises his emotional friend to speak to Constance and profess his true feelings to her. When Bartlett sits down to speak to Constance and finally tells her that he has deep feelings for her, Constance immediately rejects him, putting on her usual melodramatic, self-pitying performance: “When he left me I seemed to die. Now I am some wretched ghost clinging for all existence to the thought of my lost unhappiness...I might have loved you – if I had – lived”. Annoyed with Constance's obsessive behavior, Bartlett confronts her of only befriending him as a way to pretend she was still with her former lover, which immediately sent Constance in a bitter, tearful rage. General and Mrs. Wyatt run into the parlor room as soon as they hear Constance's cries. At the sight of his distressed daughter, General Wyatt realizes that he must disclose a secret he has kept from her for the past two years. He shows Constance a note that her former beau wrote to General Wyatt, stating that he had no problem with promptly ending all relations with Constance. Reading this note and realizing that her former lover never truly loved her somehow immediately relieves Constance of all the woes that have been plaguing her for the past two years. Immediately all of her issues with her self-image, her father and her mother disappear. She turns to Bartlett and happily agrees to go on a date with him.
Characters Bartlett: Bartlett is the young artist who the Wyatt's mistake for the man Constance had an affair with in Paris two years prior. Generally, he is a very emotional man and has only ever been hurt by women, which has led him to hold a grudge against the entire female race. For a moment we see a shift in Bartlett's character as initially is not as attached to Constance as he is to most women—he is often very annoyed with her and does not take to her very kindly. However, this developing strength of character is negated when he stays with the Wyatt's for the next six weeks and falls head over heels for Constance, despite her obviously using him to remind her of her former lover. Cummings: Cummings is a minister in Boston and Bartlett's closest friend. He has heard of the Wyatt's tribulations with Constance because his cousin is in contact with General Wyatt as they served in the same artillery during the Civil War. Cummings is Bartlett's conscience and often acts as a therapist to his sensitive friend. General Wyatt: General James Wyatt is married to Mrs. Wyatt and is father to Constance. He was a Civil War General in the 34th Artillery. General Wyatt did not approve of Constance's relationship with the American man in Paris and after he found out that he was actually married, he forced the man to end their relationship. This action caused a large rift in the relationship between father and daughter, and it is very apparent that General Wyatt is extremely sensitive about it. General Wyatt is a very passive man, but at times can seem overbearing. However, he does everything he can to make sure his wife and daughter happy and out of danger. Mrs. Wyatt: Margaret Wyatt is Constance's mother and General Wyatt's wife. All of the Wyatt's children died during the Civil War so she, like General Wyatt, is very over protective over Constance. However, Mrs. Wyatt is very honest with Constance and is not afraid to hurt her feelings in order to make Constance realize how pathetic she has become. Constance: Constance is the Wyatt's melodramatic and neurotic daughter. Two years ago she had a short affair with an American man in Paris and although the relationship ended as a result of his unfaithfulness, she is still very much obsessed with him. Constance has fixated herself on Bartlett because he looks almost identical to her former beau but besides looks the two have nothing in common, which proves very distressing to Constance. Due to the fact that General Wyatt brought on the break up, Constance begins to hate him and frequently voices these emotions to her mother. Mrs. Wyatt and Constance have a very good relationship, although at times Constance gets upset with her mother when she is being brutally honest. Constance is representative of the lonely woman who is fixated on marriage and motherhood because she believes that is her sole purpose in life. Her inability to fulfill these expectations is very stressful and has most likely caused her to become anorexic.
Major themes
Anorexia Constance is referred to as a “ghost” or an “apparition” multiple times throughout the course of the play. Howells has most likely employed this characterization to indicate that Constance is anorexic. Anorexia is a disease that Howells held very dear to his heart. In 1889, his beloved daughter, Winifred, succumbed to the disease when she was only 26 years old and weighed a mere 79 pounds. Although this unfortunate event happened over a decade after the publication of this play, it could be speculated that Winnie was already showing symptoms, since anorexia was becoming increasingly prevalent amongst young women her age.