美琳出生后母亲周丽琼因误会与美琳父亲分手，独自一人混迹于歌舞社交场。美琳父亲为保全家庭名誉谎说周已死。美琳长大后嫁给富家子弟梅子平。却误会子平与化名为黎女士的周丽琼交往与子平闹出矛盾。深爱自己女儿的黎女士宁可自己受辱使美琳夫妇合好如初，也使母女的秘密没有捅破，保全了女儿的名誉。
The story concerns Lady Windermere who discovers that her husband may be having an affair with another woman. She confronts her husband but he instead invites the other woman, Mrs Erlynne, to her birthday ball. Angered by her husband's unfaithfulness, Lady Windermere leaves her husband for another lover. After discovering what has transpired, Mrs Erlynne follows Lady Windermere and attempts to persuade her to return to her husband and in the course of this, Mrs Erlynne is discovered in a compromising position. She sacrifices herself and her reputation in order to save Lady Windermere's marriage. Mrs. Erlynne was originated by Marion Terry.
The fan in the title can refer to both the physical object - which Lord Windermere buys for her as a 21st birthday present - and to her admirer, Lord Darlington - who pays her deeply flattering compliments and eventually reveals his love for her.
Numerous characters in the play draw their names from places in the north of England: Lady Windermere from the lake Windermere, the Duchess of Berwick from Berwick-upon-Tweed, Lord Darlington from Darlington.
The play's Broadway première on 5 February 1893 at Palmer's Theatre was also the first Broadway performance for stage and screen actress Julia Arthur, who played Lady Windermere.
The story concerns Lady Windermere who discovers that her husband may be having an affair with another woman. She confronts her husband but he instead invites the other woman, Mrs Erlynne, to her birthday ball. Angered by her husband's unfaithfulness, Lady Windermere leaves her husband for another lover. After discovering what has transpired, Mrs Erlynne follows Lady Windermere and attempts to persuade her to return to her husband and in the course of this, Mrs Erlynne is discovered in a compromising position. She sacrifices herself and her reputation in order to save Lady Windermere's marriage. Mrs. Erlynne was originated by Marion Terry.
The fan in the title can refer to both the physical object - which Lord Windermere buys for her as a 21st birthday present - and to her admirer, Lord Darlington - who pays her deeply flattering compliments and eventually reveals his love for her.
Numerous characters in the play draw their names from places in the north of England: Lady Windermere from the lake Windermere, the Duchess of Berwick from Berwick-upon-Tweed, Lord Darlington from Darlington.
The play's Broadway première on 5 February 1893 at Palmer's Theatre was also the first Broadway performance for stage and screen actress Julia Arthur, who played Lady Windermere.
《快乐王子》实为《快乐王子集》，另两篇为《自私的巨人》和《年轻的国王》。作者王尔德为世界著名一流童话作家，深谙童话奥妙。这本童话集举世闻名，脍炙人口，被文学界推崇为童话经典。他的作品主人公有人类，也有精灵，还有动物，他们具有极其强烈而悲壮的牺牲精神，即便于事无补，他们也在所不惜，读来十分感人。 此外，在众多英汉对照读物中，本书还具备两独到之处，其一是英文版面各页中的重点单词（词组）均用浅色底纹标出，以醒耳目而便读者，有助于阅读和记忆，其二是英文版面每页均有详细的英文诠注，如“the stars and stripes = the American flag〃，〃lowing = sound made by a cow〃等等等等，不仅有助于读者理解单词，进而还可加强对英语和英语文化及相关习俗的了解，实为一举多得。
快乐王子-其它简介
作品简介:
王尔德的每一个故事都是一首诗。
快乐王子是美的化身。他的真诚、善良让我们油然而生敬意。而他悲惨的结局更是震撼着我们的心灵，在我们的心中，这种为了他人的幸福而牺牲自己的精神是非常崇高的。
——上海七宝中学高级语文教师 陈韦兰
我的心再也无法平静！小燕子跌倒在地的声音撞击着我的心灵，而快乐王子那颗破裂成两半的铅心更让我心痛不已。心底的爱心慢慢升腾起来，内心的感动也一点点弥漫开去......
——儿童文学研究生 钱燕
有一次，王尔德给儿子讲故事，说着说着流下了眼泪。儿子问他为什么要哭，他说：“真正美丽的事物总会使人流下眼泪。”王尔德讲的就是这本书中的故事......
——一位普通读者
【图书简介】
王尔德创作戏剧、散文和诗，被誉为“唯美主义大师”。1884年他结婚生子，饱含着爱为孩子写童话。在他看来，孩子是美与善的化身，他的童话也应该是温良敦厚，展现出美的精神。他一生只写了九个童话，每一篇都实现了美与善的统一，无愧是世界儿童故事的经典之作。本书《快乐王子》收录了王尔德创作的全部童话，这九个故事是：《快乐王子》、《夜莺于蔷薇》、《自私的巨人》、《忠实的朋友》、《了不起的火箭》、《少年国王》、《西班牙公主的生日》、《打鱼人和他的灵魂》、《星孩》。
阅读王尔德的童话，我们应该把握三个方面：
一、 语言准确、机智不失趣味。有人说王尔德是最善言谈的作家，谈吐机锋密布、冷隽幽默，他的童话也充分展示了他这方面的才华。
二、 美的极至，美的沉醉。王尔德在给儿子讲述《自私的巨人》时，自己禁不住流下了眼泪。他对儿子说：真正美丽的事物总会使自己流下眼泪。
三、 寓意深刻感人。王尔德的每一篇童话都营造了一个极美而又忧伤的氛围，他的人物都有着强烈的献身精神，让读者切实地感到强大的道德力量。
我国的文学大师巴金先生十分喜爱王尔德的童话作品，因喜爱就将这些作品一一精心翻译过来。现在你正阅读的书，可以说是两位大师的合作产物吧。
阅读这样一本书，是你的福气……
The stories included in this collection are:
* The Happy Prince
* The Nightingale and the Rose
* The Selfish Giant
* The Devoted Friend
* The Remarkable Rocket
The stories convey an appreciation for the exotic, the sensual and for masculine beauty.
快乐王子-其它简介
作品简介:
王尔德的每一个故事都是一首诗。
快乐王子是美的化身。他的真诚、善良让我们油然而生敬意。而他悲惨的结局更是震撼着我们的心灵，在我们的心中，这种为了他人的幸福而牺牲自己的精神是非常崇高的。
——上海七宝中学高级语文教师 陈韦兰
我的心再也无法平静！小燕子跌倒在地的声音撞击着我的心灵，而快乐王子那颗破裂成两半的铅心更让我心痛不已。心底的爱心慢慢升腾起来，内心的感动也一点点弥漫开去......
——儿童文学研究生 钱燕
有一次，王尔德给儿子讲故事，说着说着流下了眼泪。儿子问他为什么要哭，他说：“真正美丽的事物总会使人流下眼泪。”王尔德讲的就是这本书中的故事......
——一位普通读者
【图书简介】
王尔德创作戏剧、散文和诗，被誉为“唯美主义大师”。1884年他结婚生子，饱含着爱为孩子写童话。在他看来，孩子是美与善的化身，他的童话也应该是温良敦厚，展现出美的精神。他一生只写了九个童话，每一篇都实现了美与善的统一，无愧是世界儿童故事的经典之作。本书《快乐王子》收录了王尔德创作的全部童话，这九个故事是：《快乐王子》、《夜莺于蔷薇》、《自私的巨人》、《忠实的朋友》、《了不起的火箭》、《少年国王》、《西班牙公主的生日》、《打鱼人和他的灵魂》、《星孩》。
阅读王尔德的童话，我们应该把握三个方面：
一、 语言准确、机智不失趣味。有人说王尔德是最善言谈的作家，谈吐机锋密布、冷隽幽默，他的童话也充分展示了他这方面的才华。
二、 美的极至，美的沉醉。王尔德在给儿子讲述《自私的巨人》时，自己禁不住流下了眼泪。他对儿子说：真正美丽的事物总会使自己流下眼泪。
三、 寓意深刻感人。王尔德的每一篇童话都营造了一个极美而又忧伤的氛围，他的人物都有着强烈的献身精神，让读者切实地感到强大的道德力量。
我国的文学大师巴金先生十分喜爱王尔德的童话作品，因喜爱就将这些作品一一精心翻译过来。现在你正阅读的书，可以说是两位大师的合作产物吧。
阅读这样一本书，是你的福气……
The stories included in this collection are:
* The Happy Prince
* The Nightingale and the Rose
* The Selfish Giant
* The Devoted Friend
* The Remarkable Rocket
The stories convey an appreciation for the exotic, the sensual and for masculine beauty.
王尔德在一八九三年四月推出《无足轻重的女人》后只写了几篇文章，直到六月出版诗集《人面狮身像》时才有新作品问世。
Original production
Herbert Beerbohm Tree, actor-manager of London's Haymarket Theatre, asked Oscar Wilde to write him a play following the success of Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan at the St. James Theatre. Wilde was initially quite reluctant since the character Tree would take was not the sort of part he associated with the actor: "You must forget that you ever played Hamlet; you must forget that you ever played Falstaff; above all, you must forget that you ever played a duke in a melodrama by Henry Arthur Jones." Wilde went so far as to describe Lord Illingworth as himself.
This appears to have made Tree all the more determined and thus Wilde wrote the play while staying at a farmhouse near Felbrigg in Norfolk — with Lord Alfred Douglas — while his wife and sons stayed at Babbacombe Cliff near Torquay. Rehearsals started in March 1893. Tree enjoyed the part of Lord Illingworth and continued to play it outside the theatre, leading Wilde to comment "every day Herbert becomes de plus en plus oscarisé" ("more and more Oscarised").
The play opened on 19 April 1893. The first performance was a great success, though Wilde, while taking his bow as the author, was booed, apparently because of a line stating "England lies like a leper in purple" — which was later removed. The Prince of Wales attended the second performance and told Wilde not to alter a single line.
The play was also performed in New York and was due to go on tour when Wilde was arrested and charged with indecency and sodomy following his feud with the Marquess of Queensberry over the Marquess' son, Lord Alfred Douglas. The tour was cancelled.
Criticisms
A Woman of No Importance has been described as the "weakest of the plays Wilde wrote in the Nineties". Many critics note that much of the first act-and-a-half surrounds the witty conversations of members of the upper-classes, the drama only beginning in the second half of the second act with Lord Illingworth and Mrs Arbuthnot finding their pasts catching up with them.
Lytton Strachey gave a curious interpretation of the relationship between Lord Illingworth and his new-found son Gerald when Tree put on another production of the play in 1907. In a letter to Duncan Grant he described Lord Illingworth (again played by Tree) as having incestuous homosexual designs on his son. Strachey's interpretation of Tree's performance was probably influenced by Wilde's exposure as a homosexual himself.
Themes
Like many of Wilde's plays the main theme is the secrets of the upper-classes: Lord Illingworth discovering that the young man he has employed as a secretary is in fact his illegitimate son, a situation similar to the central plot of Lady Windermere's Fan. Secrets would also affect the characters of The Importance of Being Earnest.
In one scene, Lord Illingworth and Mrs. Allonby (whose unseen husband is called Ernest) share the line "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy.", "No man does. That is his." Algernon would make the same remark in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Characters of the play
Lord Illingworth
He is a man of about 45 and a bachelor. He is witty and clever and a practised flirt, who knows how to make himself agreeable to women. He is Mrs. Arbuthnot's former lover and seducer and the father of Gerald Arbuthnot. Also, he has a promising diplomatic career and is shortly to become Ambassador to Vienna. He enjoys the company of Mrs. Allonby, who has a similar witty and amoral outlook to his own, and who also engages in flirting. His accidental acquaintance with Gerald, to whom he offers the post of private secretary, sets in motion the chain of events that form the main plot of the play. Illingworth is a typical Wildean dandy.
Mrs. Arbuthnot
Apparently a respectable widow who does good work among the poor and is a regular churchgoer. She declines invitations to dinner parties and other social amusements, although she does visit the upper class characters at Lady Hunstanton's, since they all appear to know her and her son, Gerald. However, the audience soon realise that she has a secret past with Lord Illingworth who is the father of her son, Gerald.
Gerald Arbuthnot
The illegitimate son of Mrs. Arbuthnot and Lord Illingworth. Gerald's young and rather inexperienced character represents the desire to find a place in society, and gain high social standing. His naivety allows him to accept uncritically what society deems as proper, and his belief in honour and duty is what leads him to insist upon his parents' marriage.
Mrs. Allonby
A flirtatious woman who has a bit of a reputation for controversy. She is not the stereotypical female character and exchanges witty repartee with Lord Illingworth, indeed she could be viewed as a female dandy. It is she who dares Illingworth to "kiss the Puritan."
Miss Hester Worsley
As an American Puritan and an outsider to the British society in the play, Hester is in an ideal position to witness its faults and shortcomings more clearly than those who are part of it. Hester is both an orphan and an heiress, which allows her to "adopt" Mrs. Arbuthnot as her mother at the end of the play.
Jane, Lady Hunstanton
The host of the party. Means well but is quite ignorant, shown in her conversation and lack of knowledge. Could be seen as portraying the typical Victorian aristocrat.
Lady Caroline Pontefract
A very strong bully, shown by her belittling of Mr. Kelvil whom she constantly refers to as Mr. "Kettle". Her traditionalist views are in direct contrast to Mrs Allonby.
The Ven. Archdeacon Daubeny, D.D.
Seen as the 'ultimate priest' his willingness to 'sacrifice' his free time for the benefit of his wife who is seen as an invalid of dramatic proportions. Shows his discomfort at being within the upper-class social circle.
Lady Stutfield
A naive and intellectually restricted character that shows her lack of vocabulary with constant repetitions such as her use of the phrase, "Quite, Quite". However this view is a misconception, and those who study the women characters in depth will find Lady Stutfeild to be full of ulterior motives and desperate for male attention.
Mr. Kelvil, M.P.
A stuffily and thoroughly modern progressive moralist. He earnestly wishes to improve society and in particular the lot of the lower classes, but seems to lack the charisma and charm to succeed — for example, he chooses to discuss the monetary standard of bimetallism with Lady Stutfield.
Lord Alfred Rufford
A stereotypically lazy aristocrat who is constantly in debt with no intentions of paying back his debtors due to him spending other peoples money on luxury items such as jewelry.
Sir John Pontefract
Husband to Lady Caroline Pontefract, he is a quiet man who allows his wife to control their relationship. He seems weary of his wife's behaviour, constantly correcting her mispronounciation of Mr. Kelvil's name.
Farquhar, Butler
Francis, Footman
Alice, Servant
Original production
Herbert Beerbohm Tree, actor-manager of London's Haymarket Theatre, asked Oscar Wilde to write him a play following the success of Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan at the St. James Theatre. Wilde was initially quite reluctant since the character Tree would take was not the sort of part he associated with the actor: "You must forget that you ever played Hamlet; you must forget that you ever played Falstaff; above all, you must forget that you ever played a duke in a melodrama by Henry Arthur Jones." Wilde went so far as to describe Lord Illingworth as himself.
This appears to have made Tree all the more determined and thus Wilde wrote the play while staying at a farmhouse near Felbrigg in Norfolk — with Lord Alfred Douglas — while his wife and sons stayed at Babbacombe Cliff near Torquay. Rehearsals started in March 1893. Tree enjoyed the part of Lord Illingworth and continued to play it outside the theatre, leading Wilde to comment "every day Herbert becomes de plus en plus oscarisé" ("more and more Oscarised").
The play opened on 19 April 1893. The first performance was a great success, though Wilde, while taking his bow as the author, was booed, apparently because of a line stating "England lies like a leper in purple" — which was later removed. The Prince of Wales attended the second performance and told Wilde not to alter a single line.
The play was also performed in New York and was due to go on tour when Wilde was arrested and charged with indecency and sodomy following his feud with the Marquess of Queensberry over the Marquess' son, Lord Alfred Douglas. The tour was cancelled.
Criticisms
A Woman of No Importance has been described as the "weakest of the plays Wilde wrote in the Nineties". Many critics note that much of the first act-and-a-half surrounds the witty conversations of members of the upper-classes, the drama only beginning in the second half of the second act with Lord Illingworth and Mrs Arbuthnot finding their pasts catching up with them.
Lytton Strachey gave a curious interpretation of the relationship between Lord Illingworth and his new-found son Gerald when Tree put on another production of the play in 1907. In a letter to Duncan Grant he described Lord Illingworth (again played by Tree) as having incestuous homosexual designs on his son. Strachey's interpretation of Tree's performance was probably influenced by Wilde's exposure as a homosexual himself.
Themes
Like many of Wilde's plays the main theme is the secrets of the upper-classes: Lord Illingworth discovering that the young man he has employed as a secretary is in fact his illegitimate son, a situation similar to the central plot of Lady Windermere's Fan. Secrets would also affect the characters of The Importance of Being Earnest.
In one scene, Lord Illingworth and Mrs. Allonby (whose unseen husband is called Ernest) share the line "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy.", "No man does. That is his." Algernon would make the same remark in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Characters of the play
Lord Illingworth
He is a man of about 45 and a bachelor. He is witty and clever and a practised flirt, who knows how to make himself agreeable to women. He is Mrs. Arbuthnot's former lover and seducer and the father of Gerald Arbuthnot. Also, he has a promising diplomatic career and is shortly to become Ambassador to Vienna. He enjoys the company of Mrs. Allonby, who has a similar witty and amoral outlook to his own, and who also engages in flirting. His accidental acquaintance with Gerald, to whom he offers the post of private secretary, sets in motion the chain of events that form the main plot of the play. Illingworth is a typical Wildean dandy.
Mrs. Arbuthnot
Apparently a respectable widow who does good work among the poor and is a regular churchgoer. She declines invitations to dinner parties and other social amusements, although she does visit the upper class characters at Lady Hunstanton's, since they all appear to know her and her son, Gerald. However, the audience soon realise that she has a secret past with Lord Illingworth who is the father of her son, Gerald.
Gerald Arbuthnot
The illegitimate son of Mrs. Arbuthnot and Lord Illingworth. Gerald's young and rather inexperienced character represents the desire to find a place in society, and gain high social standing. His naivety allows him to accept uncritically what society deems as proper, and his belief in honour and duty is what leads him to insist upon his parents' marriage.
Mrs. Allonby
A flirtatious woman who has a bit of a reputation for controversy. She is not the stereotypical female character and exchanges witty repartee with Lord Illingworth, indeed she could be viewed as a female dandy. It is she who dares Illingworth to "kiss the Puritan."
Miss Hester Worsley
As an American Puritan and an outsider to the British society in the play, Hester is in an ideal position to witness its faults and shortcomings more clearly than those who are part of it. Hester is both an orphan and an heiress, which allows her to "adopt" Mrs. Arbuthnot as her mother at the end of the play.
Jane, Lady Hunstanton
The host of the party. Means well but is quite ignorant, shown in her conversation and lack of knowledge. Could be seen as portraying the typical Victorian aristocrat.
Lady Caroline Pontefract
A very strong bully, shown by her belittling of Mr. Kelvil whom she constantly refers to as Mr. "Kettle". Her traditionalist views are in direct contrast to Mrs Allonby.
The Ven. Archdeacon Daubeny, D.D.
Seen as the 'ultimate priest' his willingness to 'sacrifice' his free time for the benefit of his wife who is seen as an invalid of dramatic proportions. Shows his discomfort at being within the upper-class social circle.
Lady Stutfield
A naive and intellectually restricted character that shows her lack of vocabulary with constant repetitions such as her use of the phrase, "Quite, Quite". However this view is a misconception, and those who study the women characters in depth will find Lady Stutfeild to be full of ulterior motives and desperate for male attention.
Mr. Kelvil, M.P.
A stuffily and thoroughly modern progressive moralist. He earnestly wishes to improve society and in particular the lot of the lower classes, but seems to lack the charisma and charm to succeed — for example, he chooses to discuss the monetary standard of bimetallism with Lady Stutfield.
Lord Alfred Rufford
A stereotypically lazy aristocrat who is constantly in debt with no intentions of paying back his debtors due to him spending other peoples money on luxury items such as jewelry.
Sir John Pontefract
Husband to Lady Caroline Pontefract, he is a quiet man who allows his wife to control their relationship. He seems weary of his wife's behaviour, constantly correcting her mispronounciation of Mr. Kelvil's name.
Farquhar, Butler
Francis, Footman
Alice, Servant
考察王尔德在《理想丈夫》中描摹的女性生存状况和出路,探讨他与时代女性观的契合与冲突,指出他的女性人物有以下三个特点:第一,性别界限模糊,不少上层社会女性身上体现了作者本人的“纨绔子”精神;第二,部分女性把自我实现等同于物欲和权欲的满足,在追求自我的过程中威胁到男性的生存空间;第三,理想的女性是独立和自在自为的,她坚持自己的自由也承认他人的自由。
Background
In the summer of 1893, Oscar Wilde began writing An Ideal Husband, and he completed it later that winter. At this point in his career he was accustomed to success, and in writing An Ideal Husband he wanted to ensure himself public fame. His work began at Goring-on-Thames, after which he named the character Lord Goring, and concluded at St. James Place. He initially sent the completed play to the Garrick Theatre, where the manager rejected it, but it was soon accepted by the Haymarket Theatre, where Lewis Waller had temporarily taken control. Waller was an excellent actor and cast himself as Sir Robert Chiltern. The play gave the Haymarket the success it desperately needed. After opening on January 3, 1895, it continued for 124 performances. In April of that year, Wilde was arrested for 'gross indecency' and his name was publicly taken off the play. On April 6, soon after Wilde's arrest, the play moved to the Criterion Theatre where it ran from April 13–27. The play was published in 1899, although Wilde was not listed as the author. This published version differs slightly from the performed play, for Wilde added many passages and cut others. Prominent additions included written stage directions and character descriptions. Wilde was a leader in the effort to make plays accessible to the reading public.
Dramatis Personae
* The Earl of Caversham, K.G.
* Lord Goring, his son. His Christian name is Arthur.
* Sir Robert Chiltern, Bart., Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs
* Vicomte De Nanjac, Attaché at the French Embassy In London
* Mr. Montford, secretary to Sir Robert
* Mason, butler to Sir Robert Chiltern
* Phipps, butler to Lord Goring
* James, footman to the Chilterns
* Harold, footman to the Chilterns
* Lady Chiltern, wife to Sir Robert Chiltern
* Lady Markby, a friend of the Chilterns'
* The Countess of Basildon, a friend of the Chilterns'
* Mrs. Marchmont, a friend of the Chilterns'
* Miss Mabel Chiltern, Sir Robert Chiltern's sister
* Mrs. Cheveley, blackmailer, Lady Chiltern's former schoolmate
Plot
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 member of the House of Commons, and his wife, Lady Chiltern, are hosting a gathering that includes his friend Lord Goring, a dandified bachelor and close friend to the Chilterns, his sister Mabel Chiltern, and other genteel guests. During the party, Mrs. Cheveley, an enemy of Lady Chiltern's from their school days, attempts to blackmail Sir Robert into supporting a fraudulent scheme to build a canal in Argentina. 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 illicit 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.
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. 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 in all his decisions. Sir Robert complies with 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 that Lord Goring gave someone many years ago. Goring takes the brooch and asks that Mabel inform him if anyone comes to retrieve it.
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 with Mabel. He also takes Lady Chiltern aside and obliquely urges her to be less morally inflexible and more forgiving. Once Goring leaves, Mrs. Cheveley appears, unexpected, in search of a brooch she lost the previous evening. Incensed 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 her husband and refuses to forgive him.
In 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 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 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.
When she and Lord Goring confront each other, Mrs. Cheveley makes a proposal: claiming still to love Goring from their early days of courtship, she offers to exchange Sir Robert's letter for her old beau's hand in marriage. Lord Goring declines, accusing her of defiling love by reducing courtship to a vulgar transaction and ruining the Chilterns' marriage. He then springs his trap. Removing the diamond brooch from his desk drawer, he binds it to Cheveley's wrist with a hidden device. Goring then reveals how the item came into her possession: apparently Mrs. Cheveley stole it from his cousin years ago. To avoid arrest, Cheveley must trade the incriminating letter for her release from the bejeweled handcuff. After Goring obtains and burns the letter, however, Mrs. Cheveley steals Lady Chiltern's note from his desk. Vengefully she plans to send it to Sir Robert misconstrued as a love letter addressed to the dandified lord. Mrs. Cheveley exits the house in triumph.
The final act, which returns to Grosvenor Square, resolves the many plot complications sketched above with a decidedly happy ending. Lord Goring proposes to and is accepted by Mabel. Lord Caversham informs his son that Sir Robert has denounced the Argentine canal scheme before the House. Lady Chiltern then appears, and Lord Goring informs her that Sir Robert's letter has been destroyed but that Mrs. Cheveley has stolen her letter and plans to use it to destroy her marriage. At that moment, Sir Robert enters while reading Lady Chiltern's letter, but he has mistaken it for a letter of forgiveness written for him. The two reconcile. Lady Chiltern initially agrees to support Sir Robert's decision to renounce his career in politics, but Lord Goring dissuades her from allowing her husband to resign. When Sir Robert refuses Lord Goring his sister's hand in marriage, still believing he has taken up with Mrs. Cheveley, Lady Chiltern is forced to explain last night's events and the true nature of the letter. Sir Robert relents, and Lord Goring and Mabel are permitted to wed.
Film, television and radio adaptations
1947 film
Main article: An Ideal Husband (1947 film)
A lavish 1947 adaptation was produced by London Films and starred Paulette Goddard, Michael Wilding and Diana Wynyard
1998 film
Main article: An Ideal Husband (1998 film)
It was adapted for the screen in 1998. It starred James Wilby and Jonathan Firth
1999 film
Main article: An Ideal Husband (film)
It was adapted once more for the screen in 1999. It starred Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett and Rupert Everett
Television and Radio
The BBC produced a version which aired in 1969 and starred Jeremy Brett and Margaret Leighton. It is available on DVD as part of the The Oscar Wilde Collection.
BBC Radio 3 broadcast a full production in 2007 directed by David Timson and starring Alex Jennings, Emma Fielding, Jasper Britton, Janet McTeer and Geoffrey Palmer. This production was re-broadcast on Valentine's Day 2010.
L.A. Theatre Works produced an audio adaption of the play starring Jacqueline Bisset, Rosalind Ayres, Martin Jarvis, Miriam Margolyes, Alfred Molina, Yeardley Smith and Robert Machray. It is available as a CD set, ISBN 1-58081-215-5.
Background
In the summer of 1893, Oscar Wilde began writing An Ideal Husband, and he completed it later that winter. At this point in his career he was accustomed to success, and in writing An Ideal Husband he wanted to ensure himself public fame. His work began at Goring-on-Thames, after which he named the character Lord Goring, and concluded at St. James Place. He initially sent the completed play to the Garrick Theatre, where the manager rejected it, but it was soon accepted by the Haymarket Theatre, where Lewis Waller had temporarily taken control. Waller was an excellent actor and cast himself as Sir Robert Chiltern. The play gave the Haymarket the success it desperately needed. After opening on January 3, 1895, it continued for 124 performances. In April of that year, Wilde was arrested for 'gross indecency' and his name was publicly taken off the play. On April 6, soon after Wilde's arrest, the play moved to the Criterion Theatre where it ran from April 13–27. The play was published in 1899, although Wilde was not listed as the author. This published version differs slightly from the performed play, for Wilde added many passages and cut others. Prominent additions included written stage directions and character descriptions. Wilde was a leader in the effort to make plays accessible to the reading public.
Dramatis Personae
* The Earl of Caversham, K.G.
* Lord Goring, his son. His Christian name is Arthur.
* Sir Robert Chiltern, Bart., Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs
* Vicomte De Nanjac, Attaché at the French Embassy In London
* Mr. Montford, secretary to Sir Robert
* Mason, butler to Sir Robert Chiltern
* Phipps, butler to Lord Goring
* James, footman to the Chilterns
* Harold, footman to the Chilterns
* Lady Chiltern, wife to Sir Robert Chiltern
* Lady Markby, a friend of the Chilterns'
* The Countess of Basildon, a friend of the Chilterns'
* Mrs. Marchmont, a friend of the Chilterns'
* Miss Mabel Chiltern, Sir Robert Chiltern's sister
* Mrs. Cheveley, blackmailer, Lady Chiltern's former schoolmate
Plot
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 member of the House of Commons, and his wife, Lady Chiltern, are hosting a gathering that includes his friend Lord Goring, a dandified bachelor and close friend to the Chilterns, his sister Mabel Chiltern, and other genteel guests. During the party, Mrs. Cheveley, an enemy of Lady Chiltern's from their school days, attempts to blackmail Sir Robert into supporting a fraudulent scheme to build a canal in Argentina. 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 illicit 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.
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. 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 in all his decisions. Sir Robert complies with 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 that Lord Goring gave someone many years ago. Goring takes the brooch and asks that Mabel inform him if anyone comes to retrieve it.
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 with Mabel. He also takes Lady Chiltern aside and obliquely urges her to be less morally inflexible and more forgiving. Once Goring leaves, Mrs. Cheveley appears, unexpected, in search of a brooch she lost the previous evening. Incensed 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 her husband and refuses to forgive him.
In 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 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 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.
When she and Lord Goring confront each other, Mrs. Cheveley makes a proposal: claiming still to love Goring from their early days of courtship, she offers to exchange Sir Robert's letter for her old beau's hand in marriage. Lord Goring declines, accusing her of defiling love by reducing courtship to a vulgar transaction and ruining the Chilterns' marriage. He then springs his trap. Removing the diamond brooch from his desk drawer, he binds it to Cheveley's wrist with a hidden device. Goring then reveals how the item came into her possession: apparently Mrs. Cheveley stole it from his cousin years ago. To avoid arrest, Cheveley must trade the incriminating letter for her release from the bejeweled handcuff. After Goring obtains and burns the letter, however, Mrs. Cheveley steals Lady Chiltern's note from his desk. Vengefully she plans to send it to Sir Robert misconstrued as a love letter addressed to the dandified lord. Mrs. Cheveley exits the house in triumph.
The final act, which returns to Grosvenor Square, resolves the many plot complications sketched above with a decidedly happy ending. Lord Goring proposes to and is accepted by Mabel. Lord Caversham informs his son that Sir Robert has denounced the Argentine canal scheme before the House. Lady Chiltern then appears, and Lord Goring informs her that Sir Robert's letter has been destroyed but that Mrs. Cheveley has stolen her letter and plans to use it to destroy her marriage. At that moment, Sir Robert enters while reading Lady Chiltern's letter, but he has mistaken it for a letter of forgiveness written for him. The two reconcile. Lady Chiltern initially agrees to support Sir Robert's decision to renounce his career in politics, but Lord Goring dissuades her from allowing her husband to resign. When Sir Robert refuses Lord Goring his sister's hand in marriage, still believing he has taken up with Mrs. Cheveley, Lady Chiltern is forced to explain last night's events and the true nature of the letter. Sir Robert relents, and Lord Goring and Mabel are permitted to wed.
Film, television and radio adaptations
1947 film
Main article: An Ideal Husband (1947 film)
A lavish 1947 adaptation was produced by London Films and starred Paulette Goddard, Michael Wilding and Diana Wynyard
1998 film
Main article: An Ideal Husband (1998 film)
It was adapted for the screen in 1998. It starred James Wilby and Jonathan Firth
1999 film
Main article: An Ideal Husband (film)
It was adapted once more for the screen in 1999. It starred Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett and Rupert Everett
Television and Radio
The BBC produced a version which aired in 1969 and starred Jeremy Brett and Margaret Leighton. It is available on DVD as part of the The Oscar Wilde Collection.
BBC Radio 3 broadcast a full production in 2007 directed by David Timson and starring Alex Jennings, Emma Fielding, Jasper Britton, Janet McTeer and Geoffrey Palmer. This production was re-broadcast on Valentine's Day 2010.
L.A. Theatre Works produced an audio adaption of the play starring Jacqueline Bisset, Rosalind Ayres, Martin Jarvis, Miriam Margolyes, Alfred Molina, Yeardley Smith and Robert Machray. It is available as a CD set, ISBN 1-58081-215-5.
唯美主义的代表人物奥斯卡.王尔德的喜剧《认真的重要性》描绘了一幅维多利亚时期上层社会的生活风景画。剧中两位主角的双重生活给每一位读者留下了深刻的印象并且成为此剧冲突的关键。现实生活中的王尔德也过着一种隐秘的双重生活,这不得不使人联想到二者的内在联系。借助精神分析的一些理论,本文着力于揭开表面双重生活下所隐藏的深刻的心理和社会根源。
Set in late Victorian England in 1895, the play's humour derives in part from characters maintaining fictitious identities to escape unwelcome social obligations. It is replete with witty dialogue and satirises some of the foibles and hypocrisy of late Victorian society. It has proved Wilde's most enduringly popular play.
The successful opening night of this play marked the climax of Wilde's career but also heralded his impending downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry, father of Wilde's lover Lord Alfred Douglas, attempted to enter the theatre, intending to throw vegetables at the playwright when he took his bow at the end of the show. Wilde was tipped off and Queensberry was refused admission. Nonetheless, Queensberry's hostility to Wilde was soon to trigger the latter's legal travails and eventual imprisonment. Wilde's notoriety caused the play, despite its success, to be closed after only 83 performances. He never wrote another play.
Set in late Victorian England in 1895, the play's humour derives in part from characters maintaining fictitious identities to escape unwelcome social obligations. It is replete with witty dialogue and satirises some of the foibles and hypocrisy of late Victorian society. It has proved Wilde's most enduringly popular play.
The successful opening night of this play marked the climax of Wilde's career but also heralded his impending downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry, father of Wilde's lover Lord Alfred Douglas, attempted to enter the theatre, intending to throw vegetables at the playwright when he took his bow at the end of the show. Wilde was tipped off and Queensberry was refused admission. Nonetheless, Queensberry's hostility to Wilde was soon to trigger the latter's legal travails and eventual imprisonment. Wilde's notoriety caused the play, despite its success, to be closed after only 83 performances. He never wrote another play.
王尔德的唯美主义艺术观在他的小说《道林.格雷的画像》中有充分的体现,主要包括艺术与形式,艺术与生活,艺术与道德三个方面与其艺术观相对应的王尔德的人生观,在其入狱前后发生了明显的改变。艺术与人生的冲突和融合也就是王尔德的艺术魅力所在。
The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new hedonism, Lord Henry suggests the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfillment of the senses. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses his desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait Basil has painted would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is considered a work of classic gothic horror fiction with a strong Faustian theme.
The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new hedonism, Lord Henry suggests the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfillment of the senses. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses his desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait Basil has painted would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is considered a work of classic gothic horror fiction with a strong Faustian theme.