As with many of Wilde's plays, An Ideal Husband has a biting, satirical, and whimsical tone. Wilde wastes no time setting about his critique of London society and its idiosyncrasies. In Act 1, Part 1, at the very beginning of the play, Mabel Chiltern pronounces:
Oh, I love London Society! I think it has immensely improved. It is entirely composed now of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics. Just as Society should be.
This is a classic bit of Wildean sarcasm, as Mabel’s cheerful, enthusiastic tone juxtaposes with a withering observation about the London elite—setting the stage for the ironic presentation of London life to come. The snappy dialogue in An Ideal Husband is full of these sorts of whimsical contradictions, which only serve to emphasize the apparent lunacy of Wilde’s characters. In Act 1, Part 3, Lord Goring announces:
My father told me to go to bed an hour ago. I don’t see why I shouldn’t give you the same advice. I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.
Statements like these make little sense on their surface, which is their point. Wilde’s satirical portrayal of London society is so set in its own ways and appearances as to have abandoned real emotion and authenticity in favor of performance. Yet as the play progresses, his characters rise above their cynicism—and so does Wilde: An Ideal Husband has real heart at its center. The tone toward the end of the play shifts toward being genuinely, sincerely, emotional—as when Robert embraces his wife and gives joyous assent for his sister, Mabel, and Lord Goring to marry in Act 4, Part 2:
What! Had I fallen so low in your eyes that you thought that even for a moment I could have doubted your goodness? Gertrude, Gertrude, you are to me the white image of all good things, and sin can never touch you. Arthur, you can go to Mabel, and you have my best wishes!
As love triumphs over artifice, so too does sincerity triumph over satire.
As with many of Wilde's plays, An Ideal Husband has a biting, satirical, and whimsical tone. Wilde wastes no time setting about his critique of London society and its idiosyncrasies. In Act 1, Part 1, at the very beginning of the play, Mabel Chiltern pronounces:
Oh, I love London Society! I think it has immensely improved. It is entirely composed now of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics. Just as Society should be.
This is a classic bit of Wildean sarcasm, as Mabel’s cheerful, enthusiastic tone juxtaposes with a withering observation about the London elite—setting the stage for the ironic presentation of London life to come. The snappy dialogue in An Ideal Husband is full of these sorts of whimsical contradictions, which only serve to emphasize the apparent lunacy of Wilde’s characters. In Act 1, Part 3, Lord Goring announces:
My father told me to go to bed an hour ago. I don’t see why I shouldn’t give you the same advice. I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.
Statements like these make little sense on their surface, which is their point. Wilde’s satirical portrayal of London society is so set in its own ways and appearances as to have abandoned real emotion and authenticity in favor of performance. Yet as the play progresses, his characters rise above their cynicism—and so does Wilde: An Ideal Husband has real heart at its center. The tone toward the end of the play shifts toward being genuinely, sincerely, emotional—as when Robert embraces his wife and gives joyous assent for his sister, Mabel, and Lord Goring to marry in Act 4, Part 2:
What! Had I fallen so low in your eyes that you thought that even for a moment I could have doubted your goodness? Gertrude, Gertrude, you are to me the white image of all good things, and sin can never touch you. Arthur, you can go to Mabel, and you have my best wishes!
As love triumphs over artifice, so too does sincerity triumph over satire.
As with many of Wilde's plays, An Ideal Husband has a biting, satirical, and whimsical tone. Wilde wastes no time setting about his critique of London society and its idiosyncrasies. In Act 1, Part 1, at the very beginning of the play, Mabel Chiltern pronounces:
Oh, I love London Society! I think it has immensely improved. It is entirely composed now of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics. Just as Society should be.
This is a classic bit of Wildean sarcasm, as Mabel’s cheerful, enthusiastic tone juxtaposes with a withering observation about the London elite—setting the stage for the ironic presentation of London life to come. The snappy dialogue in An Ideal Husband is full of these sorts of whimsical contradictions, which only serve to emphasize the apparent lunacy of Wilde’s characters. In Act 1, Part 3, Lord Goring announces:
My father told me to go to bed an hour ago. I don’t see why I shouldn’t give you the same advice. I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.
Statements like these make little sense on their surface, which is their point. Wilde’s satirical portrayal of London society is so set in its own ways and appearances as to have abandoned real emotion and authenticity in favor of performance. Yet as the play progresses, his characters rise above their cynicism—and so does Wilde: An Ideal Husband has real heart at its center. The tone toward the end of the play shifts toward being genuinely, sincerely, emotional—as when Robert embraces his wife and gives joyous assent for his sister, Mabel, and Lord Goring to marry in Act 4, Part 2:
What! Had I fallen so low in your eyes that you thought that even for a moment I could have doubted your goodness? Gertrude, Gertrude, you are to me the white image of all good things, and sin can never touch you. Arthur, you can go to Mabel, and you have my best wishes!
As love triumphs over artifice, so too does sincerity triumph over satire.
