An Ideal Husband
Oscar Wilde once said, “Art is the most intense form of individualism that the world has known”(Bolander 20). A man who truly believed in the importance of art and its significance in and reflections on society, Wilde references artists to describe nearly every character in his four-act play An Ideal Husband (Nassaar 123). Wilde uses an artist’s stereotypical model to “visually emphasize the values which are paramount to [his characters and] society,” as seen through Mrs. Marchmont, Lady Basildon, Lord Caversham, and Sir Robert Chiltern (Eltis 132). However, Wilde relates some of his characters to a more subtle type of artistry or artist, as in the cases with Miss Mabel Chiltern, Mrs. Cheveley, and Lord Goring. Wilde describes the first characters introduced to the audience as very elegant and dainty women; “Watteau would have loved to paint” Mrs. Marchmont and Lady Basildon (Wilde 1.1). Antoine Watteau typically painted women of high fragility and exquisite beauty. The models Watteau painted “[dress] for the part; they…avoid everything gross and uncultivated, displaying their seductions with the greatest delicacy and charm” (Craven 173). Mrs. Marchmont and Lady Basildon set the basis for the typical high-class Englis
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Lord Goring, Miss Mabel, Sir Robert, Lady Basildon, LADY MARKBY, ROBERT CHILTERN, Lord Caversham, Wilde Lamia, Blue Books, Lady Chilterns, lord goring, sir robert, miss mabel, oscar wilde, lord caversham, miss mabel chiltern, lady basildon, london society, mabel chiltern, university press, sir roberts, sir robert chiltern, marchmont lady basildon, world book inc, book inc 1986,
Approximate Word count = 3001
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)
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