Discuss the Title of the play, “Smoke-Screens”

Discuss the Title of the play, “Smoke-Screens”

“Smoke-Screens” is a beautiful comedy written by a popular English dramatist, Harold Brighouse. In the play, the word “Smoke-Screens" is used twice. 
The writer shows that the outward behaviour of people is quiet different from their inner feelings. Smoke-Screens means the screen of ideas behind which the main characters hide themselves. They have their own ideas and views according to their age group and experiences.
In the play, three women: Lucy, Susan and Primrose, are the representatives of three different age groups. The theme of the play Smoke-Screens is that in marriage love is more important than physical beauty.
 Lucy, mother of Primrose, marries a beautiful, handsome and charming person Charles but she gives divorce to her husband. In the last part of the play, Primrose declares to marry an ugly man John not for physical beauty but for love. The play is about a social problem i.e./, the younger generation do not like the old generation to interfere with their affairs. 
Parents should give proper attention to their growing children and should allow them to decide their personal complexities themselves. In the first scene of the play, Susan, aunt of Primrose, appears in a sitting room. 
She was enjoying music and reading a. novel. In the meanwhile, Primrose enters in search of her hand bag. Her aunt hides her hand bag because she wants to discuss few problems with her.
Primrose who is an ultra-modem pharming girl makes an excuse and postpones it for some other time. 
She looks quite disturbed on the missing of bag. Her mother Lucy also enters who advises her daughter to be careful about her belongings. Primrose is worried about her bag which contains her girlish secrets.
 A lipstick and three pounds cash. At last, she finds her bag and goes out with a cigarette in her mouth. After the departure of Primrose, Lucy and Susan discuss about the behaviour of Primrose. Susan dislikes smoking and blames Lucy for harsh and rude behaviour of Primrose. 
Lucy is also worried about Primrose behaviour who often goes out late. Lucy wants to guide Primrose in the light of her experience. She also tells her sister that her daughter dislikes her past life and she knows that her mother has divorced her father. 
Susan consoles Lucy and discusses with her the problems of different generation.
Lucy explains that problems of new generation are different from that of Victorian and old generation. Modern generation wants freedom and individualism. They do not like the interference of their elders in their personal affairs. 
Susan informs Lucy that the bad temperament of Primrose is due to ignorance because she kept herself busy to establish her business and could not give proper attention to Primrose. During conversation, Lucy defends Primrose. In the meantime while they are discussing about Primrose, Clarice sister of John enters and introduces herself. 
Actually, she is sent by Primrose by her mother to convince her about her decision. Clarice tells her that John is an ugly man having a charmless personality. Meanwhile, Primrose enters and thanks Clarice visit.
Here she openly and boldly declares that she is going to marry John. She tells her mother that John is a different man than her father Charles. She tells her mother that John will prove a faithful husband. 
She also begs pardon about rude behaviour to her mother and aunt. Lucy yields at last before the will of her daughter by that it is always a losing game to be a mother for she has been losing her grip over her daughter as she grew from a baby to young independent woman.
                                                                                             B.A punjab university 2014
                                                                                                             English paper A (first group)