A Point of Law story
A lawyer cannot stop a middle-aged spinster from making a fool of herself with a young fortune-hunter, but he can stop the fellow from getting his hands on her money. Directed by: Peter Sykes. Story by: Donald Wilson, based on the story by W. Somerset Maugham.
10 total · 1 choice · 6 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| gold digging | choice | Ralph Mason was a ruthless gold digger who thought he had gotten rich after his unbeloved rich wife died leaving him everything in her will. Little did he know that the will was null and void on account of having been signed before their wedding. |
| coping with a terminal illness | major | Kate's days were numbered owing to tuberculous. |
| father and daughter | major | Kate cared deeply for her dying father, Sir Roger Daubernoon, and felt obligated to stay by his side even though her own tuberculous needed a warmer climate to improve. |
| human health condition | major | Kate suffered from incurable tuberculous. |
| husband and wife | major | Kate ill-advisedly tied the knot with Ralph Mason, a cruel gold digger. |
| legal occupation | major | As alluded to in the title, the story is largely told from the point of view of James Addishaw, the Daubernoon family lawyer, who cared for Kate as a friend. |
| obsessive love | major | Kate (wealthy, aging, and terminally ill) fell passionately in love with the young fortune-hunter Ralph Mason. She willfully overlooked the fact that he was an obvious gold digger and alienated herself from her old friend, James Addishaw, in the process. |
| coping with being ill and indisposed | minor | Kate spent her last days abroad with her unloving husband. The last time she was featured she lay exhausted on a sofa. |
| cruelty | minor | Ralph callously smoked a cigarette in the room where Kate lay dying from tuberculous, and left without saying goodbye. |
| master and servant | minor | An elderly maid was momentarily dismayed to find Kate up and about, and gently urged her to return to bed and rest. |