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Lord Arthur Goring
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. But the sudden crisis in his life brought about by Mrs. Cheveley’s blackmail reveals not only his past indiscretions but also his profound inner confusion on matters of goodness, ambition, and love. He has floated along on the currents of other people’s ideas – Baron Arnheim’s ideas about power and ambition, society’s ideas about honor and success. The crisis finally forces him to think deeply about his values. By the end of the play, his socially determined belief system has given way to a private, inner system, which settles him more surely in both his marriage and his career.
Sir Robert Chiltern Quotes in An Ideal Husband
The An Ideal Husband quotes below are all either spoken by Sir Robert Chiltern or refer to Sir Robert Chiltern. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, Part 2
Quotes
SIR ROBERT CHILTERN
You prefer to be natural?
MRS. CHEVELEY
Sometimes. But it is such a very difficult pose to keep up.
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Act 1, Part 3
Quotes
Nowadays, with our modern mania for morality, every one has to pose as a paragon of purity, incorruptibility, and all the other seven deadly virtues—and what is the result? You all go over like ninepins—one after the other.
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Robert, that is all very well for other men, for men who treat life simply as a sordid speculation; but not for you, Robert, not for you. You are different. All your life you have stood apart from others. You have never let the world soil you. To the world, as to myself, you have been an ideal always. Oh! be that ideal still.
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Sir Robert Chiltern Quotes in An Ideal Husband
The An Ideal Husband quotes below are all either spoken by Sir Robert Chiltern or refer to Sir Robert Chiltern. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, Part 2
Quotes
SIR ROBERT CHILTERN
You prefer to be natural?
MRS. CHEVELEY
Sometimes. But it is such a very difficult pose to keep up.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Part 3
Quotes
Nowadays, with our modern mania for morality, every one has to pose as a paragon of purity, incorruptibility, and all the other seven deadly virtues—and what is the result? You all go over like ninepins—one after the other.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Robert, that is all very well for other men, for men who treat life simply as a sordid speculation; but not for you, Robert, not for you. You are different. All your life you have stood apart from others. You have never let the world soil you. To the world, as to myself, you have been an ideal always. Oh! be that ideal still.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
