An Ideal Husband Power 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 #1
MRS. CHEVELEY. [Leaning back on the sofa and looking at him.] How very disappointing! (1.250)
The power's in the stage directions. Mrs. Cheveley knows she has the upper hand. She's relaxed. She wants to enjoy the foreplay. Then she'll go for the jugular.
Quote #2
MRS. CHEVELEY. […] I am much stronger than you are. The big battalions are on my side. You have a splendid position, but it is your splendid position that makes you so vulnerable. (1.268)
The tables have turned. Normally Sir Robert uses the power of his good reputation to influence people. Now that reputation leaves him wide open. Mrs. Cheveley has no good reputation to protect and so she pulls out all the stops.
Quote #3
LADY CHILTERN. It is power to do good that is fine – that, and that only. (1.366)
Lady Chiltern can't understand Sir Robert's obsession with power, and why the desire for political power would influence him to sacrifice his beliefs. Two very different temperaments meet in this marriage.
Quote #4
SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. Youth is the time for success. I couldn't wait. (2.25)
Sir Robert's lust for power was so great that he effectively said "carpe diem" (i.e., "seize the day") when Baron Arnheim made his original offer. This quote typifies the Aesthetic movement's obsession with youth.
Quote #5
SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. With that wonderfully fascinating quiet voice of his he expounded to us the most terrible of all philosophies, the philosophy of power, preached to us the most marvelous of all gospels, the gospel of gold. (2.35)
Sir Robert describes a seduction that was both sensual and spiritual. Poor guy didn't have a chance.
Quote #6
SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. […] power, power over other men, power over the world, was the one thing worth having, […] and in our century only the rich possessed it. (2.35)
Sir Robert tries to make Lord Goring understand the desperation that comes with being poor and ambitious. Lord Goring was born wealthy and was never in the position where he had to compromise any principles.
Quote #7
SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. Wealth has given me enormous power. It gave me at the very outset of my life freedom, and freedom is everything. (2.37)
As Sir Robert recalls his misdeed, his condemnation of the act falters. Suddenly, it seems like the right and necessary thing to have done. Because of the impact Sir Robert has made, the Baron actually facilitated a lot of good in the end.
Quote #8
SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. She must have had some curious hold over Baron Arnheim. I wonder what it was.
LORD GORING. [Smiling.] I wonder. (2.191-192)
We know what you're thinking: it's about sex. Lord Goring is acknowledging that age-old source of power.