A Woman of No Importance

Mrs. Arbuthnot is the protagonist of A Woman of No Importance. Her first name is Rachel, with the surname Arbuthnot being an assumed name to conceal the fact that she had Lord Illingworth’s child out of wedlock. Mrs. Arbuthnot lives close to Lady Hunstanton’s estate, but she does not often participate in the high society parties that Lady Hunstanton hosts. Even when Lady Hunstanton invites her to a dinner party, Mrs. Arbuthnot arrives at the party late, after dinner is over. She lives a simple life in the countryside and often engages in charitable work through the church. She is deeply devoted to her son, Gerald, having raised him entirely by herself. As a young woman, she left her family after she was seduced by Lord Illingworth, who was then called George Harford. While he promised to eventually marry her, he did not keep this promise and eventually abandoned her entirely.

Hester views Mrs. Arbuthnot as the only truly moral person present at the party. She tells Mrs. Arbuthnot: “When you came into the Drawing-room this evening, somehow you brought with you a sense of what is good and pure in life” (127). Other society women remark on how Mrs. Arbuthnot’s house is decorated in a simple and wholesome style, without the foreign influences and trends popular in London. After Mrs. Arbuthnot reveals how she has deeply devoted herself to her son and silently suffered the shame that her affair with Lord Illingworth brought upon her, Hester begins to see Mrs. Arbuthnot as a saintly figure. Rather than judging her for her sexual sins, Hester declares: “In her all womanhood is martyred” (163). By framing Mrs. Arbuthnot as the most virtuous and upstanding character in the play, Wilde indicates that her past and her violation of moral law do not mean that she is in need of redemption. Rather, she should be seen as a victim of Lord Illingworth and not as a fellow sinner.

Gerald Arbuthnot is the son of Mrs. Arbuthnot and Lord Illingworth. He is a dynamic supporting character who evolves as he discovers the truth about his parentage. Initially, he does not know that his father is Lord Illingworth, believing his mother to be a widow. After being offered the position of Lord Illingworth’s secretary, he excitedly accepts, since this would be the perfect opportunity for him to advance his career and earn enough money to marry Hester Worsley. George is an earnest and noble young man, but his strict interpretation of social rules makes him initially unsympathetic to his mother’s predicaments.

At the beginning of the play, the party guests all remark on Gerald’s good nature. Hester declares that “Mr. Arbuthnot has a beautiful nature! He is so simple, so sincere. He has one of the most beautiful natures I have ever come across” (4). Lord Illingworth also praises Gerald for his good and upstanding behavior, although he shows no real interest in the reasons behind Gerald’s actions. Gerald is also shown to be naïve, indicating that his innocence is both a virtue and a fault. When his mother warns him not to become Lord Illingworth’s secretary, he retorts, “You have told me that the world is a wicked place […]—well, I don’t believe it, mother. I think the world must be delightful” (133). Ultimately, the play does not uphold his optimistic view of the world.

Gerald is horrified to learn that his mother slept with Lord Illingworth before they were married, and his rigid interpretation of moral law leads him to write a letter in which he commands that Lord Illingworth marry his mother immediately. He is initially unsympathetic to Mrs. Arbuthnot’s refusal of this idea, but he eventually comes to understand and respect her choice not to live unhappily with a man she now hates.