# Mrs. Bompas — Short Plays character guide

> Mrs. Bompas in Short Plays by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mrs. Bompas, Bompas

**First appearance:** 0008-how-he-lied-to-her-husband

## Snapshot

Mrs. Bompas, a married woman whose flirtation with a young poet sets off a comedy of vanity, jealousy, and the lies men tell to save themselves.

## Who they are

In How He Lied to Her Husband, Mrs. Bompas is the wife whose head is turned by the attentions of a would-be poet, and whose husband's discovery of the affair turns her romantic self-image into a domestic crisis. She is vain enough to enjoy being adored and shrewd enough to see through the boy who adores her, and her real attachment to her husband complicates the flirtation she cannot quite abandon. Her wavering between fantasy and marriage gives the play its comic tension and makes the title's lie land where it hurts.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters/mrs_bompas
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters