J. M. Barrie wrote the humorous theater drama The Admirable Crichton in 1902. James Crichton, a polymath, and athlete who lived in the 16th century, was a fellow Scot who earned the nickname. Barrie adopted it as his own. The epigram-loving Ernest is presumably a parody of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde's main character. The plot may have been inspired by Ludwig Fulda's Robinson's Eiland, a German play written in 1896. A group of Berlin officials—including a capitalist, a professor, and a journalist—are shipwrecked on an island where a secretary named Arnold naturally assumes the role of a group leader. The story is described as "a satire upon modern super-culture in its relation to primal nature." However, the modern critic Arthur Bingham Walkley dismissed the association as little more than gossip, saying, "I feel absolutely indifferent as to its truth." Barrie had considered a more contentious conclusion, especially one that saw Crichton and Lady Mary rekindling their romance, but she had determined that "the stalls wouldn't stand it." Charles Frohman was in charge of the production, which debuted on November 4 at the Duke of York's Theatre in London and ran for 828 exceedingly well-received performances.
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