An Ideal Husband Compassion and Forgiveness Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue.

Quote #7

LORD CAVERSHAM. He is very heartless, very heartless. (4.66)

Lord Caversham repeats this phrase several times in the play. He sees only the public Lord Goring – lazy, indifferent, devil-may-care – not the real Lord Goring scrambling to save a marriage and advocating for a reliance on the heart.

Quote #8

LORD GORING. […] you whose lips desecrated the word love, you to whom the thing is a book closely sealed, went this afternoon to the house of one of the most noble and gentle women in the world to degrade her husband in her eyes, to try and kill her love for him […]That I cannot forgive you. (3.258)

It's interesting that Lord Goring can't offer Mrs. Cheveley what he so forcefully promotes to Lady Chiltern – forgiveness.

Quote #9

LORD GORING: Women are not meant to judge us, but to forgive us when we need forgiveness. Pardon, not punishment, is their mission. (4.236)

Lord Goring makes this speech after he's become engaged. How much of this is wishful thinking?