Love and friendship were major themes of society theater in the 1890s. A "common script" established in the era was that of a domestic life affected by a difficult situation, concluding with the reaffirmation of common ideas: fidelity, duty, forgiveness, etc. Although An Ideal Husband adopts these motifs, it also parodies them through the exaggerated conceptions of love and friendship that each character represents. The play therefore accomplishes an exploration of different conceptions through the different types of love that the characters embody. The stage directions during the introduction of the characters initiate this idea. For example, Lady Chiltern is a "grave Greek beauty", emphasizing her serious nature and foreshadowing her strict ideals regarding her husband's love. On the other hand, Lord Goring is a "flawless dandy", associating his "type" with the freer ideas of beauty, style and art – more representative of Wilde's view of life and love. The stark contrast between each character allows Wilde to explore their individual conceptions of love and highlight the advantages and flaws of each accordingly. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Lady Chiltern's conception of love seems to alter Wilde's message in the play. At first, her notion of love is overtly feminine, and Wilde exaggerates her view of her husband until it borders on the ridiculous. She claims that she “adored him” and that he was “the ideal of her life”. By making Lady Chiltern so morally honest that she threatens to leave Sir Robert because he has sullied her otherwise unalterable character, she appears laughable to the audience. “We women worship when we love; and when we lose our worship, we lose everything” is one of those hyperbolic statements used to emphasize the unreasonable nature of His love. The "worship" is inextricably linked to "everything" in the line, implying that there is nothing else to her love for Sir Robert, further revealing her view of friendship as an element of love – it is non-existent, there is only idealism. She also speaks for all women (“us”), once again reinforcing the idea that she is a representative type of all feminine love according to Wilde. Parodying his view of love leads the audience to see that his high morality is not approved by Wilde, implying that An Ideal Husband serves to highlight the flaws in such a view of love. This is contrasted by the apparent change in her perspective at the end of the play when she comments: "We have both been punished." "I set it too high", reflecting the "lesson" the ordeal taught him. By allowing him to realize his mistake, Wilde explores his misconception of love and suggests the audience not make the same mistake He advocates his own inverse conception of love, that of passion and forgiveness, without such strict morality. An ideal husband also seems to comment on the modern female role in relationships. “New Victorian Woman” – someone who is morally honest and intellectually supportive of her husband's career – he conveys through Lady Chiltern that such high morals need not apply to love although accepting. her intelligence has an "ennobling effect on life", her moral stance towards love "ruins" Sir Robert's life, suggesting that she is flawed. Further exploration of female love is illustrated through the comments. of Mrs Marchmont and Lady Basildon. They “both have the most admirable husbandsof London” but are “well punished for it”, demonstrating once again that ideals are not as important as passion. Wilde combines both the old (Mrs Marchmont and Lady Basildon) and new (Lady Chiltern) generations of womanhood and by exploring their conceptions of love he shows that neither is happy in a love without passion. By suggesting that they have uninspiring marriages, "there is not the least element of excitement in knowing him" and by pointing out the flaws in Lady Chiltern's conception of love, Wilde again appears to be advocating her own concept, more natural. Idealization is also rejected in another play by Wildes. Mrs. Erlynne of Lady Windermere's Fan observes that "ideals are dangerous things." The realities are better. They hurt, but they get better” (4.1.308). Lady Chiltern's transformation throughout the play reinforces this idea, she is indeed "hurt" by the idea that her husband is not what she made him to become. However, I would say that the Chilterns' marriage is "improved" due to their new openness, and with forgiveness now part of their love, they experience a higher level of love and trust . Lady Chiltern says that it is "love and only love" that she feels for her husband now, which contrasts with her cold moral feeling at the beginning of the play. Thus, the play aims to highlight the effect of forgiveness on love using its transition between different conceptions within the play. Sir Robert Chiltern, however, represents an entirely different concept of love, which can be interpreted as masculine (in his own words: "man's love"). '). This offers a different understanding of love, when "[men] love women [they] love them knowing their weaknesses, their follies, their imperfections, and love them more for that." It contrasts sharply with Lady Chiltern's strict idealistic view and conveys to the audience the key themes of the play: forgiveness and the imperfection of human nature. If the couple had followed this masculine concept of love from the beginning of their marriage, Sir Robert would have felt comfortable enough to reveal his flaws to his wife sooner and make her love them all the more. The contrast of the couple's perspectives shows how and why An Ideal Husband is an exploration of different conceptions of love. It is forgiveness in love that Wilde promotes, and by exploring the flaw in the feminine concept, he conveys through Sir Robert that forgiveness and love should prevail over false worship and high morality. “Love should forgive” is the sentiment at the center of Chiltern's melodramatic speech at the end of the second act, an ultimately encouraging depiction of Wilde. Furthermore, Sir Robert does not have the "courage" to "come down and show [Lady Chiltern] her wounds", he feels he needs to remain the perfect English gentleman in public and private life. This was a particularly relevant societal theme at the time, and by exploring this "purity" through the concept of love, Wilde also makes a personally significant observation about society. He himself gave the appearance of a happily married Victorian father; in reality, he led a double homosexual life – in his own words, “feasting on panthers”. Chiltern's view of love and the manner in which it is explored arguably represent Wilde's own dismissive view of society. He is built on a pedestal with his talent, but society's supposed moral view of love keeps him from being his true self. Other personal similarities between the playwright and character can also be seen in Lord Goring and his views on love, friendship and life. The pointGoring's view of love is inherently based in Aestheticism, a movement supported by Wilde that encouraged style and passion while rejecting Victorian moral structures. Lord Goring "plays with life" and declares that "it is love, not German philosophy, which is the true explanation of this world", showing that he is as far from Lady Chiltern's moral ideals as possible and he lives his life. by feeling. By exploring this different conception of love, Wilde emphasizes love as the theme of the play by showing that it triumphs over all adversity through honesty and forgiveness – represented by Goring. He encourages Sir Robert and Lady Chiltern to return to aesthetic love, as opposed to their own different conceptions. The first, he begs him to be honest with his wife and break his "ideal", "you have to start by telling your wife the whole story", because he knows the power of forgiveness in love. To the latter, Goring connects the value of forgiveness by advising "Women are not supposed to judge us, but forgive us when we need forgiveness", triggering the positive transition seen in Lady Chiltern. Furthermore, throughout the play, Goring pushes Lady Chiltern away from her ideal conception of love, “often you don't make enough concessions. » In all nature, there are elements of weakness. These examples reflect Goring's understanding that the act of forgiveness is a crucial element of marriage, through which human imperfection is recognized. It is plausible that Wilde did not intend to explore different conceptions of love in this way. He was himself an aesthete and advocated beauty over meaning, which may have led him to write the piece as "art for art's sake", but I would disagree. Crucially, An Ideal Husband explores the other character's conceptions of love and highlights their flaws, ultimately conveying a natural, forgiving love—advocated throughout by Goring—that takes precedence over unnecessary morality. Nevertheless, the play does not seem to explore as many different conceptions of friendship as it does so lovingly, and in a less didactic way. Lord Goring is described by Sir Robert as his "best friend" and constantly supports him throughout the play, ultimately saving him from ruin. His conception of friendship seems heroic, providing support to Sir Robert by repeating "your wife will forgive you" in Sir Robert's darkest moments and being "the only friend [Sir Robert] can trust". There are, however, hints of distrust, such as Goring imploring Lady Chiltern to "come and see me at once", but this seems to serve as a dramatic device for Wilde to create doubt about the integrity of his character. Ultimately, this strengthens Lord Goring in the public eye, as we see his good intentions as a friend. Conversely, these examples aim more to support the positive representation of Wilde's dandyism, characterized by Goring, than to explore in depth different conceptions of friendship. The only alternative conception proposed is through the characters of Baron Arnheim and Mrs. Cheveley. The Baron uses his friendship to corrupt Sir Robert into believing his "golden gospel" and it is further implied that his friendship with Mrs. Cheveley is based on money. Additionally, Ms. Cheveley reduces the idea of ​​marriage to a purely mercantile state by abusing Goring's friendship and effectively blackmailing him (however, this serves more to explore a different concept of love, void of any feeling, moral or passionate). I would say that these different conceptions of friendship are used simply as a plot device. Lord Goring's notion of friendship, as the supposed "hero" of the play, is based on trust and..