Both mother characters in the plays pursue freedom. Although what Mrs.
Erlynne pursues is different from what Mrs. Arbuthnot pursues, they all long for the liberty that they can make their own decisions without being interfered by other people. Damico states that “[w]hether defined as the enjoyment of natural rights or as the absence of restraints, freedom is seen as depending on a system of mutual forbearance: As long as he does not interfere with others, a man can enjoy his liberty”
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(68). Damico also indicates that the theory of American philosopher Dewey about freedom is distinctive as Dewey “combines a positive view of freedom as a form of self-perfection or growth with the negative conception of freedom as the absence of restraint” (82). In doing so, Dewey could use both conceptions to discuss different dimensions of freedom. Dewey suggests that there are positive freedom and negative freedom. Negative freedom is the freedom that is achieved “only when a man’s actions are intelligently informed; otherwise he may fail to achieve his purposes and will become the slave of his emotions and/or be manipulated by others” (83).
However, Dewey admires the positive freedom and views it as the better realization of one’s self. Positive freedom means “individuality, growth in character, and the ability to control the environment and to solve problems, to work one’s way out of difficulties” (83). These are what Dewey regards as the key to the good life. Damico continues that since the ideas and actions are interdependent, “freedom as the positive growth of the individual requires also the power of free action. The absence of obstacles to men’s actions is the means to realizing a higher freedom” (83). Positive freedom is essential as “[i]t gives men the method for readjusting external relationships to promote the freedom of each person” (91). Therefore, freedom is not only the exemption of bondage or the release from servitude. It is more than not letting someone governs one’s life, but to find out the purpose of life. Damico concludes that freedom “is not simply the absence of restraints or the existence of alternative opportunities; it is the realization of choice in action. Positive freedom means successful problem solving” (92). The happy endings of Lady Windermere’s
Fan and A Woman of No Importance suggest the idea that Wilde absolutely creates
two extraordinary mother characters as he fulfills their desires and cleans up the difficulties that they confront in the plays. Neither Mrs. Erlynne nor Mrs. Arbuthnot gets punishments and receives any unfair treatment, even though they are fallen
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women. The most important thing is that they protect their individual freedom without hurting anyone in the plays and live the life they want by making their own choices.
They achieve the realization of themselves.
Mrs. Erlynne is a woman who knows what she wants when she was still young.
She did not become a woman who submitted herself to the society’s family structure.
She was not content with being a daughter, a wife and a mother in the Victorian age.
Rather, she chooses to be a woman who pursues love and money. Due to her goals, she becomes an irresponsible mother who abandoned her daughter. However, her individual spirit reveals. She did not repress her feeling when she knows that family life is not what she wants. Knowing that she would not face too much kindness from the society, she still chose her own way. Wilde’s description about Mrs. Erlynne gives the Victorian woman another new perspective to think about their lives. Mrs. Erlynne has her own opinion and she never exposes her flaws in front of the people. In short, she has no weakness at least in Act I to Act III. Although the upper-class people talk behind Mrs. Erlynne, she lives her own life, ignoring these gossips. When she appears in the party, she shows her confidence, acts elegantly with manners and catches attentions in the party. Women are jealous of her because of her beauty and her societal skills. Even the upper-class women are very curious about Mrs. Erlynne’s identity. They discuss about Mrs. Erlynne and conclude that it is because they underestimate her, so she can elevate her status to the echelon of the upper society.
Mrs. Erlynne stays with this individual principal continuously, even though she knows that Lady Windermere is her daughter and has this friendly attitude towards her after she saved her from the dangerous situation, Mrs. Erlynne does not want her daughter to rely on her. She chooses to live without her daughter. Instead of being a mother, she rather chooses to be what she wants to be. Instead of being bound by the society, she selects the lifestyle that suits her the best. Bird indicates that “freedom is
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a special kind of good. It should not, in general, be sacrificed for the sake of other kinds of goods” (30). Mrs. Erlynne does not sacrifice her freedom; instead, she holds her right in making decisions. Mrs. Erlynne chooses to marry Lord Augustus (a man who is from the upper society) and gets what she longs for: the property and the social status. However, she still holds the power and authority of the family, as Lord Augustus obeys Mrs. Erlynne’s words and listens to what she tells him. In order to marry Mrs. Erlynne, Lord Augustus is really obedient to her. Therefore, Mrs. Erlynne still remains her own individuality and freedom. If we examine Mrs. Erlynne’s words, we would know how capable and clever she is in front of people. She knows her weakness and she knows how to communicate with people. The following lines are what she responses to Lord Windermere when she arrives at Lady Windermere’s birthday party but was blamed by Lord Windermere for being in a rush:
MRS. ERLYNNE. [Smiling.] The wisest thing I ever did in my life. And, by the way, you must pay me a good deal of attention this evening. I am afraid of the women. You must introduce me to some of them. The men I can always manage. How do you do, Lord Augustus? You have quite neglected me lately. I have not seen you since yesterday. I am afraid you’re faithless. Every one told me so. (Act II, p.25)
This is how Mrs. Erlynne reveals her charm in front of people without any fear. In Act II of the play, Mrs. Erlynne already reveals to Lord Windermere that she does not care about his worries; she just needs to get what she wants. Even though Lord Windermere blames her that her coming is rash enough, Mrs. Erlynne still behaves in an easy and relaxing way, like she is the center and the spotlight of the party.
Anne Varty indicates that Wilde provides the idea of Mrs. Erlynne being an individualist in her articles “Lady Windermere’s Fan: A Play about a Good Woman” in
A Preface to Oscar Wilde:
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Wilde meant more than simply the positive portrayal of an “unmotherly mother”: he constructed Mrs. Erlynne to fulfill his vision of the
“individualist,” the ideal human type unique to Wilde’s work, which dominates “The Critic as Artist” and “The Soul of Man Under Socialism.”
As Wilde stated, “Those who have seen Lady Windermere’s Fan will see that if there is one particular doctrine contained in it, it is that of sheer individualism.” (159)
Therefore, Mrs. Erlynne is the fighter in the play. She fights for her own rights and her own freedom. The reason that she sent blackmail to her son-in-law is also due to her pursuit of fame and money. Mrs. Erlynne is never a weak woman in the play. She is quite a social butterfly, not to mention her charming force in front of other people.
The only moment that her weakness reveals is when she faces Lady Windermere’s dangerous condition of entering into the door of adultery. Even when the time Lord Windermere toughly claims that he would tell Lady Windermere all the truth, Mrs.
Erlynne does not show any fear and weakness when talking to Lord Windermere. In order to save and protect her daughter from any harm, she chooses to wrap up the fact and so to allow Lord Windermere’s misunderstandings towards her. Mrs. Erlynne is thus actively passive. Under her coldness; there is the kind and tender heart of a mother which thinks of her daughter.
In her young age, Mrs. Arbuthnot chose to leave Lord Illingworth without taking the money which Lord Illingworth’s mother had provided. Mrs. Arbuthnot chooses to be a woman who does not rely on others’ bribe to protect her dignity. She proves that even though she is a single mother with no background and support from the others, she could still raise up her child by herself. Mrs. Arbuthnot ran away from Lord Illingworth because she felt the unfriendly attitude from Lord Illingworth’s mother Lady Cecilia. Moreover, Lord Illingworth’s hesitation and procrastination of marrying
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her made her feel that she was not respected by him. Sensing that she was not an important person to Lord Illingworth, she chose not to be a submissive woman to the Illingworths. Mrs. Arbuthnot’s departure is not only an individual decision but also a protest to Lord Illingworth and his mother. Mrs. Arbuthnot is different from Mrs.
Erlynne in several ways. While Mrs. Erlynne thinks repentance is quite out of date, Mrs. Arbuthnot “performs all the acts of repentance that her predecessor eschewed:
she conscientiously attends church, visits the poor and the sick, and leads a life of secluded virtue” (Eltis 95). Mrs. Arbuthnot seems to be passive and unassuming in the play. At the first glance, A Woman of No Importance “appears to be a conventional melodrama of seduction and judgement” but is a play “whose only originality is to plead for greater leniency for repentant fallen women and harsher punishment for fallen men” (Eltis 95). Although literary discussions of Mrs. Arbuthnot are not as many as that about Mrs. Erlynne, Mrs. Arbuthnot’s own individuality manifests itself in another unique way.
Mrs. Arbuthnot’s past makes her choose to be unassuming in her life. In her young age, she ran away from the shelter of her father, eloped with her lover Lord Illingworth and was pregnant without any official status. Lord Illingworth’s mother did not approve of this young love relationship and thus wanted to expel Mrs.
Arbuthnot by giving her some money. As a young woman without any status and financial support, Lord Illingworth’s mother’s option might be a very realistic option, but Mrs. Arbuthnot refused to be bribed. She rejected to be manipulated by others.
She chose to live a life which is different from others, although she knows that life would be difficult. She successfully preserves her dignity in the play. “Yet, in spite of its conventional appearance, A Woman of No Importance is as radical a drama as its predecessors. The basic plot of the play is melodramatic and unoriginal, but, as with
Lady Windermere’s Fan, this very familiarity served to disguise Wilde’s more
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controversial concerns” (Eltis 96). Mrs. Arbuthnot is a woman who protects her dignity when she confronts the dilemma. She does not compromise to the reality and the pressure of the society even though she seems to be a weaker side whether to Lady Cecilia or Lord Illingworth. But, she is not as weak as the audiences think due to her first appearance in the play as a charity woman, she is neither the typical type of Victorian woman although she looks like one as she seems to be silent, obedient and fragile without any energetic power.
Wilde has his opinion about individuality. He indicates in his article “The Soul of Man under Socialism” that individualism “does not come with any sickly cant about duty, which merely means doing what other people want because they want it; or any hideous cant about self-sacrifice, which is merely a survival of savage mutilation”
(61). In these two plays, Wilde conveys the ideas of individuality with his two female characters. Wilde thinks that individualism comes naturally to man. “It is the perfection that is inherent in every mode of life, and towards which every mode of life quickens. And so Individualism exercises no compulsion over man” (61).
Individualism does not try to force people to be good because it knows that people are good when they are let alone. Mrs. Erlynne and Mrs. Arbuthnot seem to execute the spirit of individualism as Wilde describes. Mrs. Erlynne tries to maintain her status as a free self instead of sacrificing herself, Mrs. Arbuthnot; on the other hand, tries to choose her own way instead of compromising to other people’s proposal. Damico states that “[a] man’s freedom is one with his individuality. Freedom to choose his own direction enlarges the individual’s range of action” (87). Mrs. Erlynne and Mrs.
Arbuthnot have their own freedom to choose their own direction and they are not restricted by any environmental elements or any conventional burden. Their individualities broaden the horizon in the spectrum for the Victorian women to ponder in another way. They reveal another style of women which is different from the
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stereotype of Victorian women as they perform the individuality by protecting their dignity, autonomy, privacy and self-development.