Summary
A searing indictment of Gilded Age avarice, "The Writing on the Wall" unfurls the sordid saga of Irving Lawrence, a magnate whose vast slum holdings epitomize urban blight. His wife, Barbara, and brother, Schuyler, champion social reform, their earnest endeavors perpetually thwarted by Irving's unyielding self-interest and serial infidelities. The arrival of Barbara's brother, Payne, with his new bride, Muriel, shatters the fragile domestic facade, as Muriel is revealed to be a ghost from Irving's dissolute past. Tormented by Irving's relentless psychological cruelty, Muriel desperately guards her secret from her unsuspecting husband. A misunderstanding precipitates Barbara's public accusation, forcing the truth of Muriel's past innocence to light, provoking Irving's furious, retaliatory fabrication of an affair between Barbara and Schuyler. This tangled web of deceit and accusation culminates in a devastating tenement fire, a tragic conflagration within Irving's own neglected properties, where Barbara is hosting a children's party. In a desperate, misguided attempt to rescue young Harry, Irving perishes, his death a grim, ironic justice as the decrepit fire escapes, symbols of his systemic negligence, collapse under the weight of his desperate tenants. His demise, a posthumous atonement, paves the way for a hopeful reconciliation between Payne and Muriel, and a burgeoning future for Barbara and Schuyler, suggesting a phoenix-like rebirth from the ashes of moral decay.
Synopsis
Irving Lawrence, prominent and wealthy, owns a large number of tenements in the poor section of the city which are among the city's most objectionable dwelling places. His wife, Barbara, and his brother. Schuyler, are interested in social uplift, but are unable to secure Irving's co-operation for the betterment of conditions. Irving's disregard for others and his blind selfishness are also displayed in his daily life and affairs with other women. When Payne, Barbara's brother, arrives with his bride Muriel, it evolves, after a painful meeting, that Muriel is one of the victims of Irving's disregard for others, in the past. Realizing Muriel will keep the past a secret from her adoring husband, at all costs, Irving torments the girl unmercifully. Barbara, meanwhile, has learned that her husband's mode of living is not all it should be, and misunderstanding a situation between Irving and Muriel, openly accuses them. Then the truth comes out and Muriel proves her innocence in the past. Irving, enraged, trumps up a countercharge of scandal between Barbara and Schuyler. An estrangement at once follows between all concerned. At this time a terrible fire breaks out in Irving's tenements, in which Barbara is holding a party for the slum children, which little Harry is attending. All rush to the scene, and in his mad attempt to rescue Harry Irving needlessly sacrifices his life, for the boy had already been carried out in safety. His death is a just atonement for the lives lost when his rusty old fire escapes crumpled up under the weight of the mad rush of tenants and crashed to the ground. Barbara effects a reunion between Payne and Muriel, and a brighter future seems in store for herself and Schuyler.
