Set in the late nineteenth century, Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband points out that the individuals are flawed as introduced by the irony of the play’s title. In this play, Sir Robert Chiltern is a man of wealth and power and is viewed as an ideal husband by his wife, Lady Chiltern. Though he appears to be faultless, he does in fact have an imperfection. The spurious origin of Sir Robert’s successful career and status can be traced to his prior indiscretion, but this secret must be kept confidential, if not, then this will ruin his marriage and career. Sir Robert fears that his past will ruin all that he has achieved. Forced to comply with Mrs. Cheveley’s blackmail, Sir Robert must support Mrs. Cheveley’s scheme to make a fortune. Throughout this play, Sir Robert seeks to accommodate the needs of each woman because his wife has strong idealistic views of him and Mrs. Cheveley, a morally imperfect woman, pulls Sir Robert toward committing additional immoral tasks. In An Ideal Husband, Oscar Wilde comments that every individual has a flaw, whether it is a simple obsession with idealistic views or moral imperfections, through his main characters, Sir Robert, Mrs. Cheveley and Lady Chiltern; however, ultimately despite their flaws. Wilde portrays through the development of his characters that love endures and triumphs all imperfections.
At the beginning of the play, Oscar Wilde first reveals the imperfection of Sir Robert. Sir Robert is the Secretary for Foreign Affairs and appears to be simply successful and wealthy, but he has a secret past that he wishes will never be revealed. Before he achieves his wealth, Sir Robert was a poor man and when he is given a chance to earn a fortune, he takes full advantage of the offer. He sells s...
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... major factor that reconciles them, though only slightly in Mrs. Cheveley’s case. This joy of love is amplified and concluded in the stage directions at the end of Act 1: “The room becomes almost dark. The only light there is comes from the great chandelier that hangs over the staircase and illumines the tapestry of the Triumph of Love” (370). Here Wilde highlights that when conflicts become so difficult to resolve that they are “dark”, the “only light” provides hope for an individual. In this play, the “dark” past and imperfections of each character signify that the “Triumph of Love” is the “only light” that can help enlighten the problem through forgiveness and compromise as demonstrated by Oscar Wilde through his main characters.
Works Cited
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray and Other Writings. New York: Bantam Dell, 1982. Original publican date: 1895.
In Oscar Wilde’s drama The Importance of Being Earnest, he uses light-hearted tones and humor to poke fun at British high society while handling the serious theme of truth and the true identity of who is really “Earnest.” Truth as theme is most significantly portrayed through the women characters, Gwendolen and Cecily but to present serious themes comically, Wilde portrays women to be the weaker sex of society, despite the seriousness of the subject—the identity of the men they want to marry.
Ruddick, Nicholas. "'The Peculiar Quality of My Genius': Degeneration, Decadence, and Dorian Gray in 1890-91." Oscar Wilde: The Man, His Writings, and His World. New York: AMS, 2003. 125-37. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Jessica Bomarito and Russel Whitaker. Vol. 164. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Artemis Literary Sources. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
...erpreted as dark and significant to the period. The comedy Wilde achieves is at the expense of the characters who are seemingly intelligent adding to the ironic structure that much of the comedy is based on. Many of the comic elements of the play are shown through human reactions to Victorian repression and the effect it has on the men and women of the time. Love seems to be nonexistent within the finds of the fierce and brutal Aristocracy when so many of the qualities they value are not based on human qualities but that of the class’s social norms. Wildes Characters are at often times not subtle about their distaste in marriage and love, Algernon is no exception to this “In aried lie, three is company, two is none” showing that they all have distorted views on many of the social practices that make them morally sound, thus adding to the satire elements of the play.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray; For Love of the King. London: Routledge/Thoemmes Press, 1993.
Idealism is the process of forming and pursuing ideas and values that are often unrealistic. An idealistic person holds high standards for their future. The vision that an individual has for themselves often plays a part in how their life occurs. Oscar Wilde’s 1895 satire, An Ideal Husband, depicts the lives of idealists and the fruition of their ideals. The play revolves around the tumultuous and highly public lives of Robert and Gertrude Chiltern. Robert is a prestigious member of the House of Commons married to an active and well respected socialite, Gertrude. The pair’s status and marriage are thrown into conflict when Gertrude’s old school nemesis, Laura Cheveley, attempts to blackmail Robert. Wilde’s popular comedy is brimming with witty epigrams, dramatic irony, and subtle symbolism. He demonstrates how the idealism of individuals in nineteenth century British society influences their lives. In the play, Wilde demonstrates that idealism has a significant effect on the destiny of individuals through the depiction of the Chilterns’ monetary and social standards.
The wit of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest stems from his place in society and his views of it. He mocks the Victorian aristocracy through his statements and satirising of marriage dependent on social class and wealth, the careful implantation of comedic techniques which add to the effect of the message Wilde aims for the society to take into consideration and the ignorance portrayed by the Victorian society. These socially acceptable mockeries allow the audience to laugh at the satirical social statements while learning a didactic lesson about the current society issues. Through Wilde’s satirical wit, he completes the educational tales he was aiming for, emphasising to readers the insaneness that society can be and its rules.
Molière’s play “Tartuffe and Oscar Wilde’s play “The Importance of Being Earnest” both demonstrate a comical portrait of hypocrisy. In “Tartuffe”, the main character Tartuffe is seen as a religious hypocrite who takes advantage of Orgon’s wealth and agrees to marry his daughter, Mariane against her wishes. In “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Jack and Algernon both lie about their identity to get the woman of their dreams. The authors use the concept of double personalities in the play to reveal the deceit and lies to represent the theme of hypocrisy. In fact, hypocrisy is not only displayed in the characters but in the play as a whole. Additionally, the plays are both hypocrital in ways that they do not follow the structure of comedy.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a rich story which can be viewed through many literary and cultural lenses. Oscar Wilde himself purposefully filled his novel with a great many direct and indirect allusions to the literary culture of his times, so it seems appropriate to look back at his story - both the novel and the 1945 film version - in this way.
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays. Ed. Richard Allen Cave. New York: Penguin, 2000.
Marriage is a powerful union between two people who vow under oath to love each other for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. This sacred bond is a complicated union; one that can culminate in absolute joy or in utter disarray. One factor that can differentiate between a journey of harmony or calamity is one’s motives. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a novel of manners, where Elizabeth Bennet and her aristocratic suitor Mr. Darcy’s love unfolds as her prejudice and his pride abate. Anton Chekhov’s “Anna on the Neck” explores class distinction, as an impecunious young woman marries a wealthy man. Both Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Anton Chekhov’s “Anna on the Neck” utilize
Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray was written during the late nineteenth century England. The protogonist Dorian Gray is portrayed as a paragon of youth and beauty whose aristocracy and charisma inspire his surroundings, particularly an artist called Basil Hallward. Dorian poses for him and one day while again posing to Basil, he is introduced to a cycnical philosopher and orator William Henry. Dorian is easily seduced by his theories. Lord Henry corrupts this young boy by transforming into a hedonist. Through him, he faces the harsh realities that his physical appearance is fading and he becomes afraid of ageing. He envies the concrete and ever-to-survive masterpiece of Basil and longs for aging on his life without any sign of ageing and decay. Then his wish incredibly turns out to be real. And his sins begin to be appear in the pic...
Wilde, Oscar, and Michael Patrick. Gillespie. The Picture of Dorian Gray: Authoritative Texts, Backgrounds, Reviews and Reactions, Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2007. Print.
Set in the late 19th Century, Oscar Wilde wrote his only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, which is a story about debauchery and corruption of innocence and well known as a "Gothic melodrama." Violent twists and a sneaky plot make this novel a distinct reflection of human pride and corrupt nature.
His take on beauty within this book finds itself in paradoxes, and a back and forth discussion amongst all the characters. The different guises of beautiful things come with the price of decadence and over indulgence. It is clear that more than any other written work by Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray represents the clear and concise view of Wilde’s opinions of the world and the world of his
Wilde, O. (1945). The picture of Dorian Gray. The Electronic Classics Series, The Pennsylvania State University. p. 3/ Retrieved January 3, 2014 from http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/oscar-wilde/dorian-gray.pdf