An Ideal Husband Essay - 1478 Words

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.†¦show more content†¦The wealth Sir Robert acquires also allows him to obtain power and gain a high political position at a young age. He believes that this wealth and power is a necessity to be successful and will only impact his life in a positive manner as he describes, â€Å"Every man of ambition has to fight his century with its own weapons. What this century worships is wealth. The God of this century is wealth. To succeed one must have wealth. At all costs one must have wealth† (373). Here, Wilde is emphasizing that Sir Robert’s perspective of success and happiness is to possess â€Å"wealth.† Without wealth, one simply cannot â€Å"fight his century† and be ambitious to become successful. Wilde’s repetition of the word â€Å"wealth† grows with intensity to strongly highlight that wealth is all that concerns Sir Robert. His way of thinking shows that he is morally imperfect because he is willing to perform an illegal and disloyal task in order to gain wealth and status. He exchanges his morals for materialistic things and neglecting the â€Å"weapons† he believes are necessary will one day backfire. Here, Wilde portrays that the very â⠂¬Å"weapons† he deems as essential are his â€Å"wealth† and will one day actually be used against him and will attack him. His careless flaw later leads him to regret what he has done to acquire such a high social status. As Sir Robert believes that his past will be forever undisclosed, Mrs. Cheveley arrives at the Chiltern’s house forShow MoreRelatedEssay about Oscar Wildes An Ideal Husband977 Words   |  4 PagesOscar Wildes An Ideal Husband Oscar Wilde (1845-1903) lived an outrageous and controversial life which was well publicized and condemned, as his life defied the strict social mores of the time. He was put into this public position due to the success of his plays which challenged Victorian earnestness while being hilariously funny. 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