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- After a session with Lord Goring, Lady Chiltern changes her mind and urges her husband to accept the offer. Things turn out well for Sir Robert. He doesn't have to publicly admit his youthful mistakes, he gets his wife back – and she's learned the lesson of forgiveness, too.
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As a woman, Lady Chiltern loves in the worship of an ideal mate, a mate who serves as model for both her and society at large. Thus she rejects Sir Robert upon the revelation of his secret past, unable to brook neither his duplicity nor the justification of his dishonesty as necessary compromise.
Lady Gertrude Chiltern. A well-liked, busy politician known for his integrity in both public and private life. In the beginning of the play, he seems to be entirely in control of his fate. He is successful, esteemed, and happily married to Lady Chiltern: his life seems to be following some universally desirable plan.
In expressing her unconditional support for Sir Robert, Lady Chiltern parrots Lord Goring's pep talk almost word for word. Here are the nuts and bolts of the speech: a man's life is more important than a woman's; men are intellect, women are emotion.
He's a man divided. On the one hand, he wants to fulfill his wife's demanding image of the ideal man, noble and honest. On the other, he's drawn to power and wealth. As Sir Robert admits to Lord Goring, he doesn't regret the actions that secured his wealth and position in society.
Read an in-depth analysis of Sir Robert Chiltern. Lady Gertrude Chiltern. A woman of grave Greek beauty and twenty-seven years of age, Lady Chiltern embodies the Victorian new woman: upright, virtuous, educated, politically engaged, and active in her husband's career.
Detailed analysis of Characters in Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband. Learn all about how the characters in An Ideal Husband such as Sir Robert Chiltern and Lady Chiltern contribute to the story and how they fit into the plot.
For Lady Chiltern, their marriage is predicated on her having an "ideal husband"—that is, a model spouse in both private and public life whom she can worship; thus, Sir Robert must remain unimpeachable in all his decisions. Sir Robert complies with her wishes and apparently seals his doom.
