I have come to a conclusion that Secrets, if performed today, would have to advertised as history. It would never be able to be a social commentary on the modern society, unless you count retrospectively, but it could be a  recollection to a moment in time when rules were stricter and the laws of love were drastically different than they are today. I would love to see this play produced today, but since there are, I believe, less than a hundred scripts in existence it would be pretty hard to do it.
Another important thing to keep in mind if you ever get to read the script or see it performed, is the ideals and rules of the Victorian Era. I know that I have touched on this subject many times before, but I truly think it is an integral part of what makes the story and characters so interesting. Here is another excerpt from one of my essays that explains a few of the important social and moral ideas:

In the Victorian era many people based their lives around strict morals, and even stricter rules. The division of class was extreme, and many people, especially the upper class, were hypocrites.  "The key words of the times were "thought," "work," and "progress." clear thinking was preferred to impulse or prejudice and the battle of ideas to the dictatorship of slogans; hard work was considered the foundation of all material advancement; and both clear thinking and hard work were deemed essential to continued national progress" (Briggs 1). These principles both helped create and were created by the technological and material advancement that Great Britain underwent in the 1800s. This advancement was showcased by the Great Exhibition of 1851 that took place in the Crystal Palace. The Great Exhibition is believed to be signifying the beginning of the High-Victoria period (Mitchell). It showcased the great technological advancement, the beauty, the strength, and the affluence of Great Britain. These ideas were integrated into society in the form of a moral code. The "belief in a common moral code, based on duty and self-restraint, was shared by most groups in society" (Briggs 3). And it was this moral code that became the backbone of the Victorian era. Through the era ideas did change, grow, and even warped in a way that did eventually bring about the end of the era. "The stress on thought, work, and progress, carried with it smugness, dullness, and what contemporaries, particularly the bright young intellectuals of the Saturday Review, called 'can't.' But it was accompanied also by heightened national pride" (Briggs 2). This sense of “can’t” verses “can” is a large contributor in the generation rift and the downfall of the Victorian era.

One of the large issues in the Victorian era was sexual relations. Sex was not something that the Victorians talked about, and sex education was unheard of "Young Victorians gained carnal knowledge by avoiding their usual sources of education- family, church, and school- and conversing with friends, observing animals, and trying to extract information from books" (Mitchell 710). While sex was not a direct subject of confrontation in Secrets it is a unspoken undercurrent in both the society in which a majority of the play takes place as well as the play itself. The characters in Secrets are so much dynamic because of the amount of time that the play covers as well all of the different moral codes, such as Victorians and sex, that each of them have unintentionally integrated into their lives. When Susan goes into “hysterics” in act 1, page 19, it would have been blamed on unbalanced humors that some doctors believed were caused by sex or the lack thereof. “Dr. Samuel Solomon's widely read A Guide to Health, or Advice to Both Sexes (1800) stated that, although intercourse was enjoyable, 'over indulgence' caused mental and physical exhaustion and 'convulsions of all the senses'" (Mitchell 710). While the only person in Secrets  that goes into “hysterics” is Susan, she is the character of the lowest class in act 1. This could be a comment on class or maybe just a coincidence, but it does show a variance between Susan and her employers, the Marlowes.

            In Victorian society there were rules for everything. As long as a person knew their place and what their role in society was, they were considered a step above the rest. "Society, said Lady Frances Balfour, was 'composed of people who knew how to behave, were well-bred, and felt their obligations to live according to the position in which they were placed" (Mitchell 734). Every action, choice, friendship, or marriage of a person in society was expected to follow the high moral standard (Mitchell 734). Only people of the upper-class were considered to be a part of society, and in order to become a member you had to have one of the following: wealth, impressive lineage, connections, or be a part of the correct club. "One classic way to gain access to higher social status has always been through marriage" (Mitchell 734). The goal of any engagement was to raise either family’s respectability in society either by marriage for wealth or to join a family with an impressive lineage. "[Marriage] also provided a way to control access to status positions- to the highest and most visible social circles and also to the centers of economic and political power" (Mitchell 735). Being a part of society was expensive and because of that "substantial numbers of men delayed marriage or remained single because of the need to have sufficient income to maintain a suitable style of life- a place in society- which would cost exponentially more for a man with a family than for a single man" (Mitchell 734). This often meant that the majority of marriages in the Victorian era were older men to younger women. Many engagements were made by parents of a young girl to a wealthy man of society, so participating in society functions became a huge part of the Victorian life. The social functions became so important and so expensive that a “social season” was created. It would last a few month and cost a great deal of money. "Society regulated courtship with great care. The marriage market was organized under extensive chaperonage within the confining activities of the season, starting with balls or parties where girls would meet eligible young men" (Mitchell 734). Act one of Secrets takes place while Mary is actually getting ready for one such ball to which her parents have great hope for. It was a Victorian mother’s goal in life to see her daughter well married which is why Mary’s parents take her courtship with John Carlton so terribly. As her father, Marlowe, states "No comment of ours can adequately describe your daughter’s conduct and the conduct of her- her accomplices in this scandalous affair. For the present, there’s no more to be said. You will, of course, go alone to the party this evening. You had better say that your daughter has contracted a slight chill, and that you felt it would be inadvisable to expose her to the night air" (Besier and Edginton 23). Since Mary had become such a disgrace there was no way her parents could have taken her to a function of the season, but they did not want to make the disgrace public, which would have ruined Mary’s prospects forever, so they made up the lie. This would and should have been heart breaking for any other Victorian girl, but Mary is more distraught by being forbidden from seeing John again. Her parents wanted someone from a suitable background for their daughter and a lowly clerk was not seemly. Of course, Mary still disregards her parent’s wishes and elopes with John Carlton. John knows that by marrying him she is forsaking every luxury that would have assuredly been hers with another man, which is why he reminds her that, "By running away with me your family will consider that you have disgraced them and utterly disown you. You will have nobody in the world to depend upon but me. And I’m only-" (Besier and Edginton 30). To which Mary cuts him off with, “Nobody but you! You’re all I want- now, and to the end of my life” (Besier and Edginton 30). This unconventional Victorian love, while to a modern audience seems like puppy love or mere infatuation, is proven time and time again to be just as strong and lasting as Mary’s declares that it is. It would have been unseemly to talk about love the way Mary and John do in act 1, but it was, and still is, highly uncommon for words of that deep a devotion to be true and lasting.