Lady Chiltern Dramatic Interpretation

On page 209 of Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband, Lady Chiltern has learned of her husband’s dishonorable past, and is upset (a bit of an understatement).  “Lady Chiltern stands like someone in a dreadful dream.  Then she turns round and looks at her husband…with strange eyes, as though she was seeing him for the first time” (209).  We already know from earlier in the play that morality is key for Lady Chiltern and she determines the worth of one’s character based entirely on his or her past. When Sir Robert Chiltern says, “No one should be entirely judged by their past”, she replies, “One’s past is what one is. It is the only way by which people should be judged” (170).  Knowing and understanding Lady Chiltern’s harsh, steadfast outlook on life makes determining what she is actually feeling/thinking in this scene a little easier, but also a bit more complicated.  Naturally, when she is first alone with him she is outraged and attacks him with (rightful) accusations of selling himself, fraud, and dishonour.  At this point she would be standing up, facing Sir Robert, with crazy eyes bordering hysteria. When he “goes towards her” wanting to explain, she will take a step back, away from him, as she says “Don’t come near me”, revolted, as if he is a despicable creature unworthy of human interaction (209, 210).   She will continue her next two speeches full of shock, anger, and disgust for his actions.  She will be staring at him the whole time, taking in this new Robert, and reflecting on the Robert that she had once loved and worshipped.  Her voice will trail down by the end, when she talks about having made “a man like you my ideal”, to a distinguishable sadness and regret (210).  Then when Sir Robert finally has the chance to respond and gives one last long lecture on how she made the error of placing him on a “monstrous pedestal” and making him a “false idol”, when really she needs to just love him, “faults and all” (210, 211, 210), it will be clear that Lady Chiltern is actually digesting, with difficulty, what he is saying.  She will listen to his words, speechless, and a look of shame will fall across her face as she realizes her mistake.  She is still confused because she knows what he did is so wrong, but now wonders if it is really so unforgivable.  His accusations clearly pain her, and when he says, “You prevented me”, she winces (211).  When he is finished, Sir Robert “passes through the room” and instead of “rush[ing] towards him” like depicted in the footnotes, I would like Lady Chiltern to just stand there in emotional shock as one tear rolls down her cheek.