When Ralph tries to dissuade Isabel from marrying Osmond, Isabel comes to her fiancé’s defense, hyperbolizing Osmond’s character in the process:
“Mr Osmond has never scrambled nor struggled—he has cared for no worldly praise. If that’s to be narrow, if that’s to be selfish, then it’s very well. I’m not frightened by such words, I’m not even displeased; I’m only sorry that you should make a mistake. Others might have done so, but I’m surprised that you should. You might know a gentleman when you see one—you might know a fine mind. Mr Osmond makes no mistakes! He knows everything, he understands everything, he has the kindest, gentlest, highest spirit.”
Isabel uses quite a bit of exaggerated language here, describing how Osmond “has never scrambled nor struggled,” “has cared for no worldly praise,” “makes no mistakes,” “knows everything,” and “understands everything.” The hyperboles show readers that Isabel is romanticizing Osmond rather than seeing him clearly. At this point, readers are aware of the fact that he has been scheming to marry her for her money, so they know he is definitively not “the kindest, gentlest, highest spirit.”
Unfortunately for Isabel, she has been equating Osmond’s love of art with his sense of morality—she believes him to be perfect because of his aesthetic sensibilities and marries him for them, only realizing later that he can be an avid art collector and also a cruel husband.
