An Ideal Husband, Oscar Wilde - Lord Goring and Lady Chiltern

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An Ideal Husband, Oscar Wilde - Lord Goring and Lady Chiltern

‘Discuss how Wilde influences the audience to like or dislike

characters’

In my paper, I will discuss two entirely different people, both of

whom have entirely different personalities but are both the characters

in the play, ‘An Ideal husband’- Lord Goring and Mrs. Chiltern. I

will also mention the reasons and ways in which Oscar Wilde has

managed to make them liked and disliked by the audience.

Lord Goring

Background info: The beginning of the play is set at Mrs. Chiltern’s

home. She is conducting a party and has invited many guests,

including all of the main characters in the play, Lord Goring. Lord

Goring is an intelligent, laid back 34 year old bachelor who lives

life leisurely which distinguishes him from most of the other upper

class male characters who have political careers, dominating their

lives.

Proof that politics is overtaking their normal lives can be seen in

the first act when Lady Basildon and Mrs. Marchmont speak about their

husbands, further evidence is the remark Lady Markby’s makes about how

politics has disrupted her life below.

Lady Markby

“….By since Sir John has taken to attending the debates regularly,

which he never used to do in the old days, his language has become

quite impossible…I left the table as soon as I had my second cup of

tea, I need hardly say. But his violent language could be heard all

over the house! I trust, Gertrude, that Sir Robert is not like

that?”

Unlike these men, with mainly political issues in their minds, Lord

Goring takes no part in it, and is called by his father to lead ‘an

idle life’. Due to this fact, the audience immediately likes him and

knows that he will be the c...

... middle of paper ...

... of love.

Due to this, even after Lady Chiltern is given the biggest shock of

her life, her ideal dreams suddenly shattering, and then immediately

scolded and critized by her husband Robert Chiltern with his brilliant

truthful speech on how women always make ideals of men, the audience

can no longer feel no remorse for her as Lady Chiltern sways side to

side. Pity is felt for Robert Chiltern, living with a wife believing

that her husband was the most perfect person in the world and only

loving him because of this.

Although the end is a happy one, at the end, when she agrees with

Robert that he should resign from the offer of having a cabinet seat,

even Lord Goring proves to know more about life and her husband than

she does, telling her that rather than lose her love, Robert Chiltern

would agree to anything. And so again, she is portrayed negatively.

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