The middle of the nineteenth century saw the births of men who were destined to become leading dramatists--Henry Arthur Jones in 1851, Oscar Wilde in 1854, Arthur Wing Pinero in 1855, George Bernard Shaw in 1856, and James M. Barrie in 1860. Fifty years after his birth, the man with the greatest contemporary theatrical reputation was Pinero. Although that reputation has waned since, there remains considerable interest in Pinero's contribution to English drama of the past century.

Born in London, Arthur Wing Pinero was the son of solicitor John Daniel Pinero and Lucy Daines Pinero. Not much is known about Pinero's early life, although it appears his childhood was a happy one. He was obliged, however, to help in his father's legal office before he was ten years old, and it was there he learned to devote careful attention to details, a characteristic which was evident later when he directed his own plays...