Wilde’s Profound Feminism In A Woman of No Importance.doc

Wilde’s Profound Feminism In A Woman of No Importance Ⅰ. Introduction Oscar Wilde is a well-known playwright in British drama history and A Woman of No Importance is one of his best comedies. A Woman of No Importance looks in particular at English upper-class society. It is a play with so many characters in it but the heart of story runs along with Lord Illingworth, a dandy, Mrs. Arbuthnot, his deserted lover and Gerald, their illegitimate son. Twenty years after Mrs. Arbuthnot’s being abandoned by Lord Illingworth, she finds that Illingworth is to become the potential employer of Gerald. The tension mounts when Mrs. Arbuthnot is caught between telling her son the truth and allowing him to go with the man who spoilt her life. The truth about Gerald’s parentage finally comes out and he refuses to work for his father. Meanwhile, Hester, Gerald’s sweetheart forgives Mrs. Arbuthnot’s past indiscretion and remains by Gerald’s side. In Victorian days, the “double standards” of the customary law legalizes the unequal treatment towards men and women, and men who have seduced a woman are welcomed by the same society that scorned the woman who has been seduced. In this play, Wilde, by means of portraying aristocratic wickedness and feminine resentment, reveals to a greater degree the evils of the conventional moral standards and the unequal treatment of law towards men and women. It is evident that Wilde realizes the humble position of women in Victorian society. Many critics have made analyses on Wilde’s personal and social life, one of which is Heksketh Pearson. There are critics who analyze Wilde’s works from the perspective of political background or family morality. Up to now, only a few writers have paid their attention to Wilde’s attitude to women. For instance, Wu Xueping makes a new analysis that Salome is a character who implies feminine sense. To him, Salome is not a woman with sadist fleshy desires and one seeking morbid beauty. The result turns out that Salome i