Named source · 1895

An Ideal Husband Quotes by Oscar Wilde: Context & Meanings

4 quotations linked to An Ideal Husband by or associated with Oscar Wilde, with source notes, explanations and related topics.

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Oscar Wilde’s 1895 social comedy An Ideal Husband

Topics and ideas

Self-regard, social performance, conversation, wit, reputation, identity and paradox, especially through Lord Goring and Mrs. Cheveley’s epigrammatic dialogue.

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Primary / edition source · en.wikisource.org ↗ Primary / edition source · en.wikisource.org ↗

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4 quotations with source context and meaning

Source identified1

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“The only possible society is oneself.”

Oscar Wilde

Voice: Fictional character · Lord Goring

Meaning & context

The comic exaggeration makes self-company part of Wilde’s joke about society while still centering comfort with oneself.

Source details

An Ideal Husband, Act III; Lord Goring tells Phipps “The only possible society is oneself” immediately before the lifelong-romance epigram. Verified against the public-domain Wikisource Act III transcription and Project Gutenberg #885; the line remains dandyish comic character speech rather than uncomplicated authorial doctrine.

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Source identified2

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“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”

Oscar Wilde

Voice: Fictional character · Lord Goring

Meaning & context

The line playfully treats self-acceptance not as a one-time achievement but as a relationship that lasts throughout life.

Source details

An Ideal Husband, Act III; Lord Goring tells Phipps that “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance” immediately after saying that the only possible society is oneself. Verified against the public-domain Wikisource Act III transcription and Project Gutenberg #885. This remains comic fictional dialogue in Wilde’s social comedy rather than a psychological finding.

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Source identified3

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“To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.”

Oscar Wilde

Voice: Fictional character · Mrs. Cheveley

Meaning & context

The paradox mocks social performance: even “being natural” can become a carefully maintained pose when people are conscious of appearances.

Source details

An Ideal Husband, Act I; Mrs. Cheveley—not Lord Goring—answers Sir Robert Chiltern’s question “You prefer to be natural?” with “Sometimes. But it is such a very difficult pose to keep up.” Verified against the public-domain Wikisource Act I transcription and Project Gutenberg #885.

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“I love talking about nothing, father. It is the only thing I know anything about.”

Oscar Wilde

Voice: Fictional character · Lord Goring

Meaning & context

The line makes conversation comic by combining cheerful self-deprecation with a claim of expertise in precisely nothing.

Source details

An Ideal Husband, Act I; Lord Goring answers his father, Lord Caversham, “I love talking about nothing, father. It is the only thing I know anything about.” Verified against the public-domain Wikisource Act I transcription and Project Gutenberg #885; this is comic fictional dialogue in their exchange about London society.

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Oscar Wilde’s 1895 social comedy An Ideal Husband

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4 quotations with source context and meaning

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