FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, CHAIR OF GERMANIC LANGUAGES

PRESENTATION
YEAR- 3rd
GROUP- 1st
SUBJECT- Stylistic
THEME - Oscar Wild (An Ideal Husband)
SUPERVISOR- Melikyan
STUDENT- Heghine Davtyan

Yerevan-2016
Contents
Introduction------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oscar Wild`s life------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Ideal Husband----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stylistic Devices Used in The Novel------------------------------------------------
Epigram and Paradox------------------------------------------------------
Irony and Pun---------------------------------------------------------------
Epithet-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Simile------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chiasmus--------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
It is obvious that the writer’s individual style is marked with its uniqueness. And the writers,
having known the facts well, reveal themselves in the way to be unique and distinguished. A
writer’s individuality in his style is greatly connected with his feelings, emotions, perceptions. So
to be original they emerge who they are inside, what their original thoughts and personal
opinions are, and they do this in a particular way, with a particular means of observation and the
power of interpretation, that is special to only them and not anyone else.

The analysis of a writer’s language is a very significant thing. But when we say to analyze a
writer’s individual style, it doesn’t still mean to amply study of everything in the language he has
used, but we should concentrate our attention on those linguistics features which are left to be
particular to him ,which help to be distinguish from other authors.

Oscar Wilde was one of the most famous writers of the nineteenth century. He was an author,
playwright and great wit. He preached the importance of life in both life and art, and he attached
Victorian narrow –mindedness and complacency. Most writers, whatever their profession, wrote
with something of the emphasis and authority of the schoolmaster addressing his pupils. In spite
of this common feature Victorian Writers are very different in their styles. They were
individualists, and each had his own personality, which was strongly presented in his style.

O. Wilde’s individual style has helped shape the language of all English-speaking countries. This
influence has chiefly been felt directly through his writings. But it has also been felt through the
interest his work has aroused in the literature. Many later writers in English have accepted O.
Wilde’s individual style as their model. As a result, much English and American literature
reflects the highly individualized enthusiasm of most his writhing.

O. Wilde has changed words, invented words, and borrowed words from other languages. He
even used nouns as verbs for dramatic effect. In his works characterized by its frequently
changing and amorphous language. Some of O. Wilde’s words may be unfamiliar or confusing to
modern readers and theatergoers. His vocabulary basically resembles modern English, but he
employed many words that are no longer used. Readers and theatergoers may also be puzzled by
familiar words that has additional or different meanings in O. Wilde’s time.
O. Wilde life
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, on October 16, 1854. Wilde came from a prominent
family. His father, a surgeon who operated on the monarchs of Europe, was knighted. His
mother, a historian and political commentator and activist, was very prominent in the Irish
freedom movements that would bring Ireland its independence from England in 1921. Both of
Wilde’s parents published numerous books in their lifetimes.

As a boy in school, Wilde excelled in his favorite subjects. He then spent three years at Trinity
College, one of the foremost universities in Ireland. He excelled at Trinity and then made his
way to Oxford University in Cambridge, England. At Oxford he distinguished himself yet again,
winning prestigious prizes.

Once he had graduated and established himself in London, Wilde began publishing in various
genres: poetry, drama, essays, fairy tales, and more. He was also an editor of magazines. Equally
important was the fame he gained in London as a wit and a dandy (someone devoted to fashion
and style). In the midst of late-Victorian England’s drably coated men, Wilde went about in knee
breeches, fine vests, and long hair (at least for a time). He would speak at public events and art
exhibits, and people would listen, vastly amused and intrigued. The magazines that chronicled
the goings on about town in London began to satirize and parody Wilde. In 1894, Wilde married;
he and his wife had two sons.

Wilde reached his pinnacle of fame in 1895, when An Ideal Husband premiered on the London
stage. The Prince of Wales and many other notables were present on opening night and found the
play very much to their liking. An Ideal Husband was the third of four highly successful plays
Wilde wrote before his career was destroyed by an unfortunate and tragic turn of events.

Very shortly after the premieres of An Ideal Husband and Wilde’s fourth comedic play, The
Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde was found guilty of indecency and sentenced to two years in
prison at hard labor.
An Ideal Husband
An Ideal Husband is one of the most serious of Wilde's social comedies, and contains very strong
political overtones, ironically and cynically examining the contemporary political landscape. The
play's main focus is the often corrupt sources of great wealth, of which the public is usually
ignorant. The characters and circumstances surrounding Sir Robert Chiltern, Mrs Cheveley, and
Baron Arnheim all mirror contemporary society and how finances increasingly influence
political life. Within this political realm, the play notes how social power relies not on money,
but rather on information and knowledge. In the play, secret knowledge allows Mrs Cheveley to
hold great power over Sir Robert Chiltern.

The play's action discusses and analyzes conflicts between public and personal morality, and
examines the power of self-interest. Although Sir Robert is only honest when it is in his interest,
Lady Chiltern, for all her talk of honor and morality, is often hypocritical in her inability to
forgive others. The play does not contain a formula for public success, and Wilde maintains a
very critical view of society. In the play, Wilde also examines the problematic nature of
marriage, and portrays it as corrupt and corrupting. The Chilterns are foolish to try to have an
"ideal" marriage based on materialistic values, such as property and high social standing. Wilde
suggests a similarity between the absences of morality in their marriage and the lack of morality
in the state's political/governing body.

Wilde crafts his characters as works of art, and demonstrates how their culture has taught them
to behave with a certain amount of pretense. The play constantly moves toward a more ideal
moral standard as the characters struggle with dishonesty, hypocrisy, double moral standards,
materialism, and corruption of social and political life. Wilde's enduring message is that love,
and not wealth, leads to happiness.

The play opens during a dinner party at the home of Sir Robert Chiltern in London's fashionable
Grosvenor Square. Sir Robert, a prestigious member of the House of Commons, and his wife,
Lady Chiltern, are hosting a gathering that includes his friend Lord Goring, a dandified bachelor
and close friend to the Chilterns, Mabel Chiltern, and other genteel guests. During the party, Mrs.
Cheveley, an enemy of Lady Chiltern's from their school days, attempts to blackmail Sir Robert
into supporting a fraudulent scheme to build a canal in Argentina. Apparently, Mrs. Cheveley's
dead mentor and lover, Baron Arnheim, convinced the young Sir Robert to sell him a Cabinet
secret, a secret that suggested he buy stocks in the Suez Canal three days before the British
government announced its purchase. Sir Robert made his fortune with that illicit money, and
Mrs. Cheveley has the letter to prove his crime. Fearing the ruin of both career and marriage, Sir
Robert submits to her demands.

When Mrs. Cheveley pointedly informs Lady Chiltern of Sir Robert's change of heart regarding
the canal scheme, the morally inflexible Lady Chiltern, unaware of both her husband's past and
the blackmail plot, insists that Sir Robert renege on his promise. For Lady Chiltern, their
marriage is predicated on her having an "ideal husband"—that is, a model spouse in both private
and public life that she can worship: thus Sir Robert must remain unimpeachable in all his
decisions. Sir Robert complies with the lady's wishes and apparently seals his doom. Also toward
the end of Act I, Mabel and Lord Goring come upon a diamond brooch that Lord Goring gave
someone many years ago. Goring takes the brooch and asks that Mabel inform him if anyone
comes to retrieve it.

In the second act, which also takes place at Sir Robert's house, Lord Goring urges Sir Robert to
fight Mrs. Cheveley and admit his guilt to his wife. He also reveals that he and Mrs. Cheveley
were formerly engaged. After finishing his conversation with Sir Robert, Goring engages in
flirtatious banter with Mabel. He also takes Lady Chiltern aside and obliquely urges her to be
less morally inflexible and more forgiving. Once Goring leaves, Mrs. Cheveley appears,
unexpected, in search of a brooch she lost the previous evening. Incensed at Sir Robert's
reneging on his promise, she ultimately exposes Sir Robert to his wife once they are both in the
room. Unable to accept a Sir Robert now unmasked, Lady Chiltern then denounces her husband
and refuses to forgive him.

In the third act, set in Lord Goring's home, Goring receives a pink letter from Lady Chiltern
asking for his help, a letter that might be read as a compromising love note. Just as Goring
receives this note, however, his father, Lord Caversham, drops in and demands to know when his
son will marry. A visit from Sir Robert, who seeks further counsel from Goring, follows.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Cheveley arrives unexpectedly and, misrecognised by the butler as the woman
Goring awaits, is ushered into Lord Goring's drawing room. While she waits, she finds Lady
Chiltern's letter. Ultimately, Sir Robert discovers Mrs. Cheveley in the drawing room and,
convinced of an affair between these two former lovers, angrily storms out of the house.
When she and Lord Goring confront each other, Mrs. Cheveley makes a proposal. Claiming to
still love Goring from their early days of courtship, she offers to exchange Sir Robert's letter for
her old beau's hand in marriage. Lord Goring declines, accusing her of defiling love by reducing
courtship to a vulgar transaction and ruining the Chilterns' marriage. He then springs his trap.
Removing the diamond brooch from his desk drawer, he binds it to Cheveley's wrist with a
hidden lock. Goring then reveals how the item came into her possession. Apparently Mrs.
Cheveley stole it from his cousin, Mary Berkshire, years ago. To avoid arrest, Cheveley must
trade the incriminating letter for her release from the bejewelled handcuff. After Goring obtains
and burns the letter, however, Mrs. Cheveley steals Lady Chiltern's note from his desk.
Vengefully she plans to send it to Sir Robert misconstrued as a love letter addressed to the
dandified lord. Mrs. Cheveley exits the house in triumph.

The final act, which returns to Grosvenor Square, resolves the many plot complications sketched
above with a decidedly happy ending. Lord Goring proposes to and is accepted by Mabel. Lord
Caversham informs his son that Sir Robert has denounced the Argentine canal scheme before the
House. Lady Chiltern then appears, and Lord Goring informs her that Sir Robert's letter has been
destroyed but that Mrs. Cheveley has stolen her letter and plans to use it to destroy her marriage.
At that moment, Sir Robert enters while reading Lady Chiltern's letter, but as the letter does not
have the name of the addressee, he assumes it is meant for him, and reads it as a letter of
forgiveness. The two reconcile. Lady Chiltern initially agrees to support Sir Robert's d
Stylistic Devices Used in Novel
Each art lies its own medium, i.e. its own material substance. Colors are the material substance
of painting, sounds-the material substance of music. It is the language that is the material
substance of literature. But language consists of colors and sounds due to the existence of
expressive means and stylistic devices. I will try to analyze some lexical expressive means and
stylistic devices used by Oscar Wilde in his plays.

Epigram and paradox

O. Wilde is the most paradoxical writer of his time. It is a device much favoured by many
English and American satirists. Paradox can be considered a figure of speech with certain
reservations, since the aesthetic principle, that underlies it, i.e. contrast has divers linguistic
manifestations.
According to professor Galperin I.R., epigram is a stylistic device akin to a proverb, the only
difference being that epigrams are coined by individuals whose names we know, while proverbs
are the coinage of the people. In other words, we are always aware of the parentage of an
epigram and therefore, when using one, we usually make a reference to its author.
Epigrams and paradoxes as stylistic devices are used for creating generalised images. Usually it
is the Present Indefinite Tense. This form of the verb makes paradoxes and epigrams abstract.
Thus, for instance;
In these four Wilde's plays (“Lady Windermere’s Fan”, “A Woman of No Importance”, “An
Ideal Husband”, “The Importance of Being Earnest”,) there is a group of people such as Lady
Bracknell, Mrs.Cheveley, Lord Illingworth and others , whose behaviour and way of life give us
a clear picture of the upper-class society. These very people with their paradoxes and epigrams
open their thoughts and feelings.

• “A man who allows himself to be convinced by an argument is a thoroughly

unreasonable person”(p.I85).
• “The world was made for men and not for women’ (p.100). (“An Ideal Husband”)
Irony and Pun
The essence of this stylistic device consists in the foregrounding not of the logical but of the
evaluative meaning. The context is arranged so that the qualifying word in irony reverses the
direction of the evaluation, and the word positively charged is understood as a negative
qualification and vice versa.

According to Professor Kukharenko Galperin I.R., irony is a stylistic device based on the
simultaneous realization of two logical meanings - dictionary and contextual, but the two
meanings stand in opposition to each other.
According to Professor Kukharenko V. A., irony is a stylistic device in which the contextual
evaluative meaning of a word is directly opposite to its dictionary meaning. So, like many other
stylistic devices, irony does not exist outside the context. Irony must not be confused with
humor, although they very much in common.
Humor always causes laughter. What is funny must come as a sudden clash of the positive and
the negative. In this respect irony can be likened to humor. But the function of irony is not
confined to producing a humorous effect. The irony does not cause a ludicrous effect. It rather
expresses a feeling of irritation and displeasure. Here are some examples of irony: thus, for
instance. Another example of irony used by O. Wilde: thus, for example

• “Lord Goring: I adore political parties. They are the only place left to us where people do
not talk politics”. (p.184 “An Ideal Husband”)

The members of political parties must talk politics, it is their duty. They must be very serious
and honest people and they must work for people’s well being, but instead of it they do not do
anything for people. During their political parties they pronounce some absurd, cynical words
and discuss rumours and gossips.
Pun is based on the effect of deceived expectation, because unpredictability in it is expressed
either in the appearance of the elements of the text unusual for the reader or in the unexpected
reaction of the addressee of the dialogue.
However playful is the effect of puns, however intricate and sudden is the merging all senses in
one sound complex, in a truly talented work this unit of poetic speech shares equally with others
in the expression of the author's message. It is a vehicle of the author's thought not a mere
decoration. Pun is one of the most favoured devices of Oscar Wilde. In his comedies there are
about twenty examples of pun. In this Chapter we will try to analyse some of them. For Wilde
pun is one of the most effective means used for creating wit, brilliancy and colourfulness of his
dialogues for criticism of bourgeois morality. At the same time the puns serve for showing the
author's ideas and thoughts. Thus, for example;

 “Lord Goring: My dear farther, only people who look dull ever get into the House of
Commons, and only people who are dull ever succeed there”.(p.257)
 “Lord Darlington: Ah, nowadays we are all of us so hard up, that the only pleasant
things to pay are compliments. They are the only things we can pay.”(p. 24) (“An Ideal
Husband”)

These examples show that the play on words has a great influence on the reader. The speech of
the hero becomes more vivid and interesting. The sound form of the word played upon may be
either a polysemantic word:

• “Lady Caroline: I believe this is the first English country-house yon have
stayed at, Mrs. Worsley? Have you any country? What we should call country? Hester: We
have the largest country in the world.” (p.95); (“Аn Ideal Husband”)

Epithet on the whole shows purely individual emotional attitude of the speaker towards the
object spoken of, it describes the object as it appears to the speaker. Epithet expresses a
characteristic of an object, both existing and imaginary. Its basic features are its emotiveness and
subjectivity: the characteristic attached to the object to qualify it is always chosen by the
speaker himself.
Epithet

Epithet is another stylistic device used by Oscar Wilde in his works.

According to Prof. Galperin I.R., Epithet is a stylistic device based on the interplay of emotive
and logical meaning in an attributive word, phrase or even sentence, used to characterise an
object and pointing out to the reader and frequently imposing on him.
According to Prof. N. E. Enkvist. Epithet is an attributive characterization of a person, thing or
phenomenon. It is, as a rule, simple in from. In the majority of cases it consist of one word:
adjective or adverb, modifying respectively nouns or verbs.

• “Mabel Chiltem is a perfect example of the English type of prettiness, the

apple-blossom type”, (p.175)
• “It means a very brilliant future in store for you”.(p.97)
• “What an appalling philosophy that sounds!” (p.179)
• “But I tell you thai the only bitter words that ever came from those sweet lips
of hers were on your account, and I hate to see you next her”. (p.SO) (“An Ideal Husband”)

According to these examples, we can say that Epithet is a word or word combination which in its
attributive use discloses the individual emotionally coloured attitude of the writer to the object he
describes. It is a form of subjective evaluation. It is a description brief and compact which
singles out the things described.

• “Lips that have lost the note of joy, eyes that are blinded by tears, chill hands
and icy heart”, (p. 60)
• “If we have enough of them, they will forgive us everything, even our gigantic
intellects”, (p. 142
• “And now tell me, what makes you leave you brilliant Vienna for our gloomy
London”. (p.180) (“An Ideal Husband”)
Epithet has remained over the centuries the most widely used stylistic device, which is
understandable- it offers the sample opportunities of qualifying every object from the authors
partial and subjective viewpoint, which is indispensable in creative prose, Here we can sec
masterly touches in rich and vivid epithets. Wilde's language is plain and understandable, it is
wonderful and interesting. Wilde resorts to the use of colourful epithets, which sometimes help
him to show the difference between pretence and reality. As we know Wilde was the leader of
the “aesthetic movement”. He was brilliant in literature and tried to be brilliant in life. He used
abundance of epithets in his speech. In fact, everybody uses epithets in his speech; without them
our speech is dry, awfully plain and not interesting.
Wilde’s epithets give a brilliant colour and wonderful witticism to his plays. With the help of
epithets Wilde's heroes are more interesting, their speech is more emotive; they involve the
reader in their reality, in their life.

Simile

Simile is the next stylistic device used by O. Wilde in his plays. Simile is a likeness of one thing
to another.
According to Prof. Y. M. Skrebnev., Simile is the most rudimentary from of trope. It can be
defined as a device based upon an analogy between two things, which are discovered to possess
some features in common otherwise being entirely dissimilar.
According to Prof, Galperin I. R. the intensification of someone feature of the concept in
question is realized in a device called Simile. Ordinary comparison and Simile must not be
confused. They represent two diverse processes.
Comparison means weighing two object belonging you one class of things whit the purpose of
establishing the degree of their sameness or difference. To use simile is to characterize one
object by bringing it into contact whit another object belonging to an entirely different class of
things. Comparison takes into consideration all the properties of two objects, stressing the one
that is compared. Simile includes all the properties of the two object except one which is made
common to them. But in the sentence.

 “But she is really like a Tanagra statuette, and would be rather annoyed if she were
told so”. (p.175) (“An Ideal Husband”)
we have a simile. “She” and “statuette” belong to heterogeneous classes of objects and Wilde has
found that the beauty of Mabel Chiltern may be compared with the beauty of the ancient Tangra
statuette. Of the two concepts brought together in the simile – one characterised (Mabel
Chiltern), and the other characterizing (Statuette) – the feature intensified will be more inherent
in the latter than in the former. Moreover, the object characterised, is seen in quite a new and
unexpected light, because the author as it were, imposes this feature on it, Thus, Simile is an
imaginative comparison of two unlike objects belonging to two different classes.
Similes forcibly set an object against another regardless of the fact that may be completely alien
to each other. And without our being aware of it the Simile gives rise to a new understanding of
the object may be viewed from different angles, for example, its state, actions, manners, etc.
Accordingly, Similes may be based on adjective-attributes, adverbs-modifiers, verb-predicates,
etc.

Chiasmus

According to Prof. Galperin I. R., chiasmus is based on the repetition of a syntactical pattern but
it has a cross order of words and phrases.

 “Men become old ,but they never become good”.(p.30)

 “Men can be analysed, women merely adored.”(p.180)
 “…if one plays good music, people don`t listen, if one plays bad music, people don”
talk ”. (p.199), (“An Ideal husband ”)

It is important to note ,that Wild’s antithesis is always accompanied by parallelism ,thus showing
the difference of phenomena compared.
Conclusion

As a result of the presentation I have arrived at the following conclusions:

O. Wilde’s plays were written in a light, cultured and refined, and in good taste. His characters
served as the mouths to enunciate the author’s exquisitely funny remarks on society. Individual
style is bassed on a thorough knowledge of the contemporary language and allows certain
justifiable deviations from the rigorous norms. Individual style requires to be studied in a course
of stylistics in so far it makes use of the potentialities of language, whatever the characters of
these potentialities may be. Wilde’s extraordinary personality and wit have so dominated the
imaginations of most biographers and critics that their estimates of his work have too often
consisted of sympathetic tributes to a writer whose literary production was little more than a faint
reflection of his brilliant talk.

Wilde’s method of ironical usage is mostly direct: he speaks of the decomposition of people,
their ideals and values. The effect of irony lies in the striking disparity between what is said and
what is meant. This is achieved through the intentional interplay of two meanings, which are in
opposition to each other. Cynical quality of Wilde’s irony is manifested in his manner of writing.
This device allows Wilde to reveal incongruity of the world around him and show the
viciousness of the upper-class society.

For Wilde pun is one of the effective means used for creating wit, brilliancy and colourfulness of
his dialogues for criticism of bourgeois morality.

Wilde’s realism with its wonderful epigrams and paradoxes, brilliant irony and amusing puns
initiates the beginning of a new era in the development of the English play. Wilde’s epithets give
a brilliant colour and wonderful witticism to his plays. With the help of epithets Wilde’s heroes
are more interesting, their speech is more emotive; they involve the reader in their reality, in their
life. Symbolic images and stylistic devices used in O. Wilde’s works make the speech of the
characters vivid, interesting, humorous, ironical, emotional, understandable; they reflect their
thoughts and feelings.

Wilde’s writing is skilful, playing, and understandable to everybody. It has a great charm and
brilliancy of the author’s personality.