The Ideal Husband 理想丈夫

1. 经典诵读(戏剧) 孟晓 mengxiao@sdu.edu.cn The Ideal Husband 理想丈夫

2. The Ideal Husband 理想丈夫

3. Oscar Wilde «To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all» Oscar Wilde in a photo by Napoleon Sarony.

4. Born in Dublinin 1854. A disciple(门徒，弟子) of Walter Pater, the theorist of aestheticism（唯美主义）. A fashionable dandy（花花公子）. Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas in the 1890s 1. Life

5. He was one of the most successful playwrightsof late Victorian London and one of the greatest celebritiesof his days. • He suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned after been convicted of “gross indecency” for homosexual acts. • He died in Paris in1900. Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas in the 1890s

6. 2. Works • Poetry: Poems,1891 The Ballad of Reading Gaol, 1898 • Fairy tales: The Happy Prince and other Tales, 1888 The House of Pomegranates,1891 • Novel: The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891 • Plays: Lady Windermere’s Fan, 1892 A Woman of no Importance,1893 Salomé,1893 An Ideal Husband，1895 The Importance of Being Earnest,1895

7. 小说 • 《道林·格雷的画像》（The Picture of Dorian Gray，1890） • 童话集 《快乐王子和其他故事》（The Happy Prince and Other Tales，1888年） • 《快乐王子（The happy prince）》 《夜莺与蔷薇（The nightingale and the rose）》 《自私的巨人（The selfish Giant）》 《忠实的朋友（The devoted friend）》 《了不起的火箭（The remarkable rocket）》 《石榴屋》（A House of Pomegranates，1891年） 《西班牙公主的生日（The birthday of theinfanta）》 《渔人和他的灵魂（The fisherman and his soul）》 《星孩（The star-child）》

8. 散文集： • 《社会主义下人的灵魂》（The Soul of Man Under Socialism，1891年。） • 书信集： • 《深渊书简》（De Profundis，1897年。又译《自深深处》、《王尔德狱中记》） • 随笔集：《ESSAYS AND LECTURE》 • 短篇故事集：《坎特维尔之鬼》（The Canterville Ghost） • 戏剧： • 少奶奶的扇子, 1892 无足轻重的女人, 1893 莎乐美, 1893 理想丈夫1895 不可儿戏 1895

9. 3. Wilde’s aestheticism • Aestheticism was a losely defined movement in literature and art, characterised by the attitude of making “art for art’s sake”. It took place in the late Victoirian period from around 1868 to 1901, and is generally considered to have ended with the trial of Oscar Wilde.

10. Generally speaking, it represents the same tendencies that Symbolism stood for in France, and may be considered the British branch of the same movement. It belongs to the anti-Victorian reaction and had post-Romantic roots, and as such anticipates Modernism.

11. In Victorian England, popular belief held that art could be used as a tool for social education and moral enlightenment (Charles Dickens’s works). The Aestheticism Movement sought to free art from this social purpose and find the meaning of art in itself. Oscar Wilde believes that art possesses an intrinsic value内在价值 —that it is beautiful and therefore valuable, and thus needs serve no other purpose. His attitude was revolutionary at his time. A contemporary edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

12. Oscar Wilde adopted the aesthetical ideal: he affirmed “my life is like a work of art”. The artist = the creator of beautiful things. Art  used only to celebrate beauty and the sensorial pleasures. A contemporary edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

13. 王尔德的唯美主义哲学尖锐批判了当时的物质社会和庸人主义。倡导人应该在生活中发现美、鉴别美、享受美，充分地展现个性。王尔德作为唯美主义的倡导者和实践者，无论是他的主张还是他的个性或者作品都是充满魅力的。王尔德醉心于艺术形式美的追寻，断言只有风格才能使艺术不朽。王尔德不仅在服饰、装饰、语言的表达以及行为举止等人生的各方面创造了炫然多彩的审美形式，并成功折射到他的作品中去。

14. Art for art's sake • It is the usual English version of a French slogan, from the early 19th century, and expresses a philosophy that the intrinsic value（真实价值） of art, and the only ”true“ art, is divorced from any didactic（学究式的）, moral or utilitarian function. Such works are sometimes described as ”autotelic“(自己本身具有目的的，艺术创作有其自身的目的）, “complete in itself”, a concept that has been expanded to embrace ”inner-directed（不随俗的，有主见的）" or "self-motivated" human beings. • Art should be independent of all claptrap（讨好的言语或行为） —should stand alone [...] and appeal to the artistic sense of eye or ear, without confounding（混淆） this with emotions entirely foreign to it, as devotion, pity, love, patriotism and the like.

15. 新美学原理（王尔德唯美主义理论体系） 1.艺术的目的在于以最理想的形式表现完美无瑕的美——谈术的非功利性 2. 艺术家是绝对自由的——谈艺术家的本质 3. 美学批评家的基本任务就是传达自己的印象——谈批评家感性直觉的重要性 4. 生活模仿艺术远远超过艺术模仿生活——谈艺术与生活之的关系 5. 自然只有经过艺术家的加工改造才能存在，是对于理想艺界的模仿。 6.生活是杂乱、单调、粗糙的，不值得艺术去模仿，艺术家是运用想象力去创造一个新的，比现实更完美的世界。

16. Aestheticism and philosophy • While at Magdalen College, Wilde became particularly well known for his role in the aesthetic and decadent movements(颓废派艺术）. He began wearing his hair long and openly scorning so-called "manly" sports, and began decorating his rooms with peacock feathers, lilies, sunflowers, blue china and other objets d'art. • As the leading aesthete（唯美主义者） in Britain, Wilde became one of the most prominent personalities of his day. Though he was sometimes ridiculed for them, his paradoxes（自相矛盾的话） and witty sayings were quoted on all sides.

18. His Tomb

20. 4. comedy of manners • Melodrama • Dandy vs. Ideal Characters • Stock Characters: Virtuous Wife, Man with a Secret Past and Other Woman • Happy Endings • Undying love is celebrated • Making fun of the behaviour of people during that era • Ironic endings using popular formula

21. 4. An Ideal Husband

22. Sir Robert Chiltern • Lady Chiltern • Lord Goring • Mrs. Cheveley • Mable Chilter (Robert’s sister)

23. Victorian Age Stressed conservative values Family devotion and duty Focus on appearance more than substance England at the peak of its industrial and imperial power English Ladies and Gentlemen Wilde made fun of these values because he saw people as fake and untrue to their true selves “Naughty Nineties”

24. “An ideal husband”—a model spouse in both private and public life that she can worship: he must remain unimpeachable（无可怀疑的、可靠）in all his decisions.

25. An Ideal Husband • an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail（敲诈、勒索） and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honor（荣誉）. • The action is set in London, in "the present", and takes place over the course of three days. "Sooner or later," Wilde notes, "we shall all have to pay for what we do." But he adds that, "No one should be entirely judged by their past."

26. An Ideal Husband opens during a dinner party at the home of Sir Robert Chiltern in London‘s fashionable Grosvenor Square. • Sir Robert, a prestigious（有威望的） member of the House of Commons, and his wife, Lady Chiltern, are hosting a gathering that includes his friend Lord Goring, a dandified（打扮华丽的） bachelor and close friend to the Chilterns, his sister Mabel Chiltern, and other genteel（上流社会） guests. • During the party, Mrs. Cheveley, an enemy of Lady Chiltern’s from their school days, attempts to blackmail（敲诈） Sir Robert into supporting a fraudulent（欺诈） scheme to build a canal in Argentina.

27. Apparently, Mrs. Cheveley's dead mentor and lover, Baron Arnheim, convinced the young Sir Robert many years ago to sell him a Cabinet secret, a secret that suggested he buy stocks in the Suez Canal three days before the British government announced its purchase. Sir Robert made his fortune with that unlawful money, and Mrs. Cheveley has the letter to prove his crime. Fearing both the ruin of career and marriage, Sir Robert submits to her demands.

28. When Mrs. Cheveley pointedly informs Lady Chiltern of Sir Robert‘s change of heart regarding the canal scheme, the morally inflexible Lady, unaware of both her husband’s past and the blackmail plot, insists that Sir Robert renege on his promise（违约，食言）. For Lady Chiltern, their marriage is predicated on her having an “ideal husband”—that is, a model spouse in both private and public life that she can worship: thus Sir Robert must remain unimpeachable（可靠） in all his decisions.

29. Sir Robert complies with（遵从） the lady‘s wishes and apparently seals his doom. Also toward the end of Act I, Mabel and Lord Goring come upon a diamond brooch（胸针） that Lord Goring gave someone many years ago. Goring takes the brooch and asks that Mabel inform him if anyone comes to retrieve（寻回） it.

30. In the second act, which also takes place at Sir Robert ’s house, Lord Goring urges Sir Robert to fight Mrs. Cheveley and admit his guilt to his wife. He also reveals that he and Mrs. Cheveley were formerly engaged. After finishing his conversation with Sir Robert, Goring engages in flirtatious banter（轻浮的逗乐） with Mabel. He also takes Lady Chiltern aside and indirectly urges her to be less morally inflexible and more forgiving.

31. Once Goring leaves, Mrs. Cheveley appears, unexpected, in search of a brooch she lost the previous evening. Incensed（恼怒） at Sir Robert‘s reneging on his promise, she ultimately exposes Sir Robert to his wife once they are both in the room. Unable to accept a Sir Robert now unmasked, Lady Chiltern then denounces（公开指责） her husband and refuses to forgive him.

32. The third act, set in Lord Goring‘s home, Goring receives a pink letter from Lady Chiltern asking for his help, a letter that might be read as a compromising（妥协） love note. Just as Goring receives this note, however, his father, Lord Caversham, drops in and demands to know when his son will marry. A visit from Sir Robert, who seeks further counsel from Goring, follows. Meanwhile, Mrs. Cheveley arrives unexpectedly and, misrecognized by the butler（男管家） as the woman Goring awaits, is ushered into Lord Goring's drawing room. While she waits, she finds Lady Chiltern's letter. Ultimately, Sir Robert discovers Mrs. Cheveley in the drawing room and, convinced of an affair between these two former loves, angrily storms out of the house.

33. Quotes • One's past is what one is. It is the only way by which people should be judged. • Women have a wonderful instinct（本能） about things. They can discover everything except the obvious. • One should never give a woman anything that she can't wear in the evening.

34. In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants and the other is getting it.世上只有两类悲剧，有些人总是不能遂愿，而有些人总是心想事成。 • Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious; both are disappointed.男人结婚是因为疲倦；女人结婚是因为好奇：双方都难免会失望的。 • The world has been made by fools that wise men should live in it.傻瓜创造了世界，聪明人不得不生活于其中。

35. Men become old, but they never become good.男人会老，但他们从来不会学好。 • When a woman marries again it is because she detested her first husband. When a man marries again it is because he adored his first wife.一个女人再婚，是因为她憎恶她的前夫；一个男人再婚，则是因为他爱着他的前妻。

36. 问题： • 你是否认为《理想丈夫》中的丈夫是理想丈夫？ • 试以《理想丈夫》为例阐述王尔德戏剧的特点。

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