A Woman of No Importance: by Oscar Wilde

A Woman of No Importance, Oscar Wilde's dark satire on the double standards that operated in polite Victorian society, was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London, in 1893. The philandering bachelor Lord Illingworth is about to take up a prestigious ambassadorial position overseas and appoints the young Gerald Arbuthnot, son of the apparent widow Mrs Arbuthnot, to be his secretary. However, unbeknownst to Gerald, he is in fact the illegitimate son of Illingworth. In the past, Illingworth had seduced Mrs Arbuthnot and refused to marry her when she became pregnant. In this excerpt, Gerald has discovered the truth about Illingworth and is determined to force him to marry his mother. However, such is Mrs Arbuthnot's contempt for Illingworth and her loyalty to her son, that she refuses. Her embittered response points to the impossible predicament of the “woman of no importance” in Victorian society, who is betrayed by a man and must then endure public disgrace, while the man remains blameless.