Abstract

In late 19th century, feminism arose in the Great Britain. Married women got the right to own property in the name of themselves. They desired to earn a place in public society and to take part in political affairs. In the play, An Ideal Husband of Oscar Wilde, women characters from upper class own a huge amount of money. Some of them are obsessed in attending social engagements and dinner-parties, abandon themselves in a self-indulgent pursuit of pleasure. Mrs. Cheveley, for example, accumulates her wealth through two marriages, and tries to make a huge fortune by threatening Robert Chiltern to sell nation interest. Lady Chiltern, on the contrary, as a perfect example of morality for women in upper class, transforms her perfect moral ideal into a weapon and grabs dominance in home. Her love and worship to her husband fix him in a perfect image of an ideal husband, thus deprives his free of showing his weakness and deprives his right of being a true human being with tears and fears. Under the circumstance of a male-dominant society, woman can not achieve their self-worth and desire of power in a decent and proper way. As a result, they fight with men who have wealth and power in a distorted or even despicable way in order to realize their lust for power and to achieve their self-worth as a person with intelligence and determination.

Key Words: feminism; male-dominant society; morality; humanity

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-2

3. Analysis of Main Characters in An Ideal Husband-3

3.1 Elder women from upper class: living as parasites-3

3.2 Lady Chiltern: a perfect moral example-3

3.3 Mrs. Cheveley: the incarnation of evil-5

3.4 Sir Robert Chiltern and Viscount Goring: men with weakness and prejudice-7

3.5 Mabel Chiltern: a perfect image as an ideal wife and an independent modern woman-8

4. Conclusion-9

References-10