Conflicts

In this play, there is a conflict that is faced by many people during this time period, illegitimate children. It was never intentional, and most times the fathers didn't even know about their child. In this play, Mrs. Arbuthnot  and Lord Illingworth had an affair in their past and never expected it to go that way. Mrs. Arbuthnot never told Lord Illingworth about Gerald, so when e hires Gerald as his personal assistant, he is clueless as is Gerald about their connection.

During the 19th century, there was a great emphasis on marriage. Any who didn't follow this was outcast from their community. But despite this, there were still many children that were born without their parents being married. Because it was such a great shame to have illegitimate children, people went to great lengths to hide this secret. Grandparents would say that the new child is there and would pass it off as a sibling of its parents. During this time period it was illegal for illegitimate children to inherit and it was often found in the more well off families trusts were set up to help care for their welfare.

The shame of illegitimacy from the 19th century is hard to understand now because it is not seen as such a bad thing anymore. Then, if a mother was ashamed enough, she may even kill her own child in order to not have to deal with that shame. Some would say that these days we call it abortion.


Illegitimacy