This thesis is divided into five parts. Excluding introduction and conclusion, there are three main chapters. The introduction clarifies the topic and issue of my thesis, including my motivation, the content of Literature Review, Methodology and Expected Findings.
In Chapter One, I sketch the historical background of family relationships and the motherhood during the Victorian age, including Wilde’s family background and his relationship with his mother. Wilde’s mother was an Irish activist and was involved in many social movements when Wilde was young. She also wrote many articles and was famous among the upper society because of her talents. Borne into a doctor’s family, Wilde was well educated; his parents were great influencers in his life, especially his mother, as he learned social etiquette from her when he observed her interacting with the people from the upper class. After analyzing the historical background of women during the Victorian age, I examine the correlation of the Victorian mother images and Wilde’s mother characters. In Wilde’s plays, there are
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various types of mothers—there is the typical and conventional type of mother, as well as the fashionable and unconventional type of mother. A close examination of the Victorian mothers would allow us to gain an in-depth understanding of Wilde’s plays to see what changes he made towards the Victorian mother images.
In Chapter Two, I analyze the mother-child relationships in Wilde’s two plays.
Following the previous chapter, I intend to reveal the mothers’ emotions towards their children in Wilde’s plays. Mothers have strong emotions attached to children, such as constantly worrying about them. Mrs. Erlynne and Mrs. Arbuthnot are independent and headstrong, they do not compromise to the society’s value and the social structure (the conventional or traditional mother roles). But, as two strong women, they both want their children to have a normal family instead of being alone like they are. Mrs.
Erlynne is a courtesan who gets what she wants by all means, while Mrs. Arbuthnot is a single mother who takes care of her son by herself. They are strong and independent women; however, when they are with their children, they express their inner feelings of love towards them. In this chapter, I interpret the mothers’ feelings and how these feelings influence their decisions when they confront problems with their children.
The importance of motherhood is what makes the relevant connection between two people, physically and mentally. Therefore, I examine the processes of Mrs. Erlynne and Mrs. Arbuthnot’s changes of feelings, and how their individualistic decision making abilities are ultimately impeded by their love for their children.
In Chapter Three, I analyze the mother characters’ individuality and their individual thoughts. The individual thoughts of mothers and the relationship they have with their children influence how Mrs. Erlynne and Mrs. Arbuthnot think when confronting problems. When mothers are by themselves, they can do whatever they want, but when things are related to their children, mothers’ misgiving will lead to a completely different circumstance. In addition, mothers also have their own desires.
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In Lady Windermere’s Fan and A Woman of No Importance, mothers have their own thoughts and want to retain their freedom even after having kids. Although they express these thoughts in the different forms of words and behaviors, the needs of the personal space and individual freedom are the same. Mrs. Erlynne abandons her family—husband and daughter in order to pursue her desire (youth, freedom and love), and this behavior leads her to rebel against the societal structure. She even rejects her maternal identity in the end of the play. On the other hand, Mrs. Arbuthnot does not want to be constrained by the conventional rules; therefore, she would rather be an unmarried mother to preserve her dignity without being bribed by the money. She insists on staying single rather than to marry her son’s father. At that time, this kind of thought was very avant-garde, and most people thought a family consists of father, mother and child(ren). However, Mrs. Arbuthnot defies this value, and even takes the chance to revenge upon Lord Illingworth’s assault. Therefore; in this chapter, I reveal that the mother characters of Wilde’s plays have unconventional values: they do whatever they want, they choose not to be bound by the social rules or values, they are fashionable and they are free. Despite the strong motherly bond, the two mothers in Wilde’s plays all hold the belief that even though they willingly make sacrifices for their children, they are still free to make their own decisions in their lives. That means, the mothers refuse to be manipulated and to let their love towards their children affect their decisions.
The last part concludes the thesis. After analyzing the historical background and the family of the Victorian age, the relationship between the mother and the children and the individual thoughts of mothers, these results lead to a sharper and more concrete perspective regarding mother characters in Wilde’s plays and their relation to modern-day women. Providing us novel perspectives of mother characters in the Victorian era, Wilde’s new mother image may still be influential to our life.
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