An Ideal Husband In Shakespeare's Play

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An Ideal Husband is a play written by Oscar Wilde. The play focuses on the subject of a perfect husband in a marriage. The play is set during the Victorian era in London, England. The scene starts out at a dinner party hosted by Sir Robert Chiltern and his wife Lady Gertrude Chiltern. The primary guests at the dinner party are Lord Goring and Mrs. Cheveley. Mrs. Cheveley is the antagonist in the play she blackmails Sir Robert and tries to destroy his marriage by digging up a secret in his past and ruining his political image. He plays the tragic hero in this play, but things do turn well for him. Lord Goring is the only known bachelor in the party. He does wish to marry, but he disagrees with the society 's view and standard of a perfect husband. …show more content…

He is known to have an impressive political reputations and he is a good husband to his wife. He is supposedly the model of for all of the other men. This is the sole reason why his wife, Lady Chiltern, loves him. Sir Robert Chiltern is “intensely admired by the few, and deeply respected by the many... his manner is that of perfect distinction, with a slight touch of pride.”2 He is the perfect example of the ideal husband in the eyes of the English ladies in the play. However, Sir Robert Chiltern is still only human. As a human, he has made mistakes and has flaws. In Sir Robert 's case, he has a dark secret buried in the past. The scheming Mrs. Cheveley digs up Sir Robert 's secret and dirties his image. Fortunately, his pride saved him. He was brave enough to announce his secret to many people. He knew his wife would not be willing to forgive him for keeping such a horrid secret from her. So he made a speech for all men to ask for their ladies forgiveness. It 's only fair, because the husbands do forgive their wives for their human imperfections. It is time for the wives to be more forgiving and flexible for their husbands as well. In both ways, Sir Robert Chiltern is an ideal husband. Before, he was a perfect example of a lady 's dream husband. Then, he made a perfect example for himself as a good and honest husband. He was still and honest and faithful man towards his …show more content…

The ideal husband does not exist and cannot exist. The idea that a man should have a decent public and private life to make his wife satisfy is not realistic. Especially when his wife does not do the same for him. Sir Robert Chiltern and Lady Gertrude Chiltern could not make such relationship work. The pressure of being “the ideal husband” was too much for Sir Robert. He had stated it ruined his life.7 The meaning of the title has changed from the Victorian view of a husband to the new modern idea of a husband. The ideal husband does not come in one form. He has to be unique in many ways. He is a person like his wife. His duty as a husband is to dearly love his wife and respect her. His wife has to do the same. The concept developed into a happy ending for the

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