No Subject

[Currie]

You might want to mention the ending, in which Sir Robert decides not to allow Lord Goring to marry Robert's sister. It shows that women lacked a lot of power in their own life decisions.

[Unregistered]

True, but Sir Robert was the legal guardian of her sister was he not? Then it would appear reasonable if he had at least some degree of jurisdiction over the matter of her marriage, just like Lord Caversham over Goring.

[Unregistered]

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[Richard (UK)]

Parents (and indeed brothers) certainly had influence over the choices of husbands for their female relatives. Nevertheless things by the end of the nineteenthcentury were changing significantly, and in this play in particular Wilde is pre-empting Bernard Shaw in his perception of the emerging role of women. All three of the young women are very clearly independent free-thinkers- the fact that Lady Chiltern finally decides to toe the Society line does not take away the fact that she is very much an active part of her marriage, and Sir Robert does not have it all his own way. She is very much the politiciian's wife. <br>Mabel is a delight- although she is obviously a rough draft for Cecily in "The Importance of Being Earnest", she is a very spirited and very independent woman. I would not read too much into the end of the play, for it is remarkably similar to "The Importance of Being Earnest", where Jack refuses Cecily's hand to Algernon for very similar and trivial reasons. As much as anyting else Wilde was satirising the Society he admired, and which ultimately failed to support him in his hour of need. <br>As for Mrs Cheveley, well all she has learned is through the school of hard knocks: all three types of these women exist today.

[fiona]

hi im wondering if anyone can tell me about the techniques used to convey the 19th century social paradigms such as marriages/female role in society in this play?<br>thans