Lady Olivia Basildon

Lady Basildon and her close friend Mrs. Marchmont are the first speakers in Wilde's play, setting the tone with their witty banter. "They are types," Wilde's stage notes say, "of exquisite fragility," and they are female dandies. Lady Basildon and her friend affect a world-weary attitude, pretending to find the fashionable London parties they go to terribly boring. As Lady Basildon says of a different party the two are planning to attend: "Horribly tedious! Never know why I go. Never know why I go anywhere." The duo's worldly sophistication and wit undoubtedly flattered a portion of his audience whom Wilde hoped would enjoy his play, namely fashionable society women.

Lord Caversham

See Earl of Caversham

Mrs. Cheveley

Mrs. Cheveley, the villain of Wilde's play, enters the society of the Chilterns and Lord Goring determined either to get her own way or to destroy those who will...