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"Chains” is a play by the English playwright Elizabeth Baker. It was first performed in April 1909 by the Play Actors Subscription Society at the Court Theatre.
The play explores the lives of the lower middle class who filled up the clerical posts of the office world in Edwardian England. The Wilsons are a young couple who live in the suburbs of London. Charley is a clerk in the City, while Lily is a homemaker. In order to make ends meet, they take in lodgers. Fred Tenant, their present lodger, has decided to abandon his clerical career and immigrate to Australia with what meagre savings he has in order to seek a new life. Charley, who finds life in England narrow and constraining, also wishes to leave. His desire is given added impetus as his company, going through difficult times, has reduced his wages. Practically everyone ridicules Fred Tenant for throwing up a 'good situation', and Charley finds himself alone in his desire to emigrate. His wife, his in-laws, his friends all oppose his wish; only his feisty sister-in-law Maggie can see what grinds him down and supports him. In the end, Fred leaves but Charley fails to do the same as his wife Lily has fallen pregnant. Charley abandons thoughts of Australia, accepts his fate with great bitterness and returns to his clerical job.
The play explores the lives of the lower middle class who filled up the clerical posts of the office world in Edwardian England. The Wilsons are a young couple who live in the suburbs of London. Charley is a clerk in the City, while Lily is a homemaker. In order to make ends meet, they take in lodgers. Fred Tenant, their present lodger, has decided to abandon his clerical career and immigrate to Australia with what meagre savings he has in order to seek a new life. Charley, who finds life in England narrow and constraining, also wishes to leave. His desire is given added impetus as his company, going through difficult times, has reduced his wages. Practically everyone ridicules Fred Tenant for throwing up a 'good situation', and Charley finds himself alone in his desire to emigrate. His wife, his in-laws, his friends all oppose his wish; only his feisty sister-in-law Maggie can see what grinds him down and supports him. In the end, Fred leaves but Charley fails to do the same as his wife Lily has fallen pregnant. Charley abandons thoughts of Australia, accepts his fate with great bitterness and returns to his clerical job.