What Does The Title Of Barrie's Play "Dear Brutus"� Refer To?

This 1917 play takes its title from a line in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar:" "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ But in ourselves, that we are underlings." The idea is that we make our own destinies. In Barrie's play, a man is given the chance to go back and see how his life might have been different if he had made different choices.

Eight characters, guests at a country house, go into an enchanted wood where they briefly live the lives that might have been theirs. One of them, an artist called Will Dearth, finds himself with a daughter, Margaret, who is almost grown up. In a short time a strong bond develops between them, and he is in despair when the dream fades and he returns to his unsatisfactory life. The other characters, including Will's unhappily married wife, have had similar visions; it remains to be seen what they will make of their lives now that they know more about what possibilities exist.