Monologue

Sir Robert Chiltern Monologue from An Ideal Husband

From An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

male · defiant · 1:56 min

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Weak? Oh, I am sick of hearing that phrase. Sick of using it about others. Weak? Do you really think, Arthur, that it is weakness that yields to temptation? I tell you that there are terrible temptations that it requires strength, strength and courage, to yield to. To stake all one’s life on a single moment, to risk everything on one throw, whether the stake be power or pleasure, I care not—there is no weakness in that. There is a horrible, a terrible courage. I had that courage. I sat down the same afternoon and wrote Baron Arnheim the letter this woman now holds. He made three-quarters of a million over the transaction. (LORD GORING: And you?) I received from the Baron £110,000. (LORD GORING: You were worth more, Robert.) No; that money gave me exactly what I wanted, power over others. I went into the House immediately. The Baron advised me in finance from time to time. Before five years I had almost trebled my fortune. Since then everything that I have touched has turned out a success. In all things connected with money I have had a luck so extraordinary that sometimes it has made me almost afraid. I remember having read somewhere, in some strange book, that when the gods wish to punish us they answer our prayers.

About this piece

Sir Robert Chiltern confronts his friend Arthur about the nature of strength and temptation, revealing his inner turmoil and the weight of his past decisions.

30s · determination · temptation · courage · power · ambition

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