# Gerald Arbuthnot — A Woman of No Importance character guide

> Gerald Arbuthnot in A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Gerald, young Arbuthnot, Gerald Arbuthnot Farquhar

**First appearance:** 0003-a-woman-of-no-importance

## Snapshot

An earnest, ambitious young man thrilled to be Lord Illingworth's secretary, he cannot see the trap his own parentage has set for him.

## Who they are

Gerald has grown up poor but adored, and his new position with Lord Illingworth feels like the door to the life he has read about but never lived. He worships his mother and trusts his patron, which makes him the perfect instrument for a revelation neither is prepared for. His desperate plea that his mother marry for his sake reveals how thoroughly he has absorbed society's priorities.

## Relationships

### [Lady Hunstanton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_no_importance_se/characters/lady_hunstanton)

_social_

Gerald is a young man of humble birth whom Lady Hunstanton treats with kindly patronage.

### [Mrs. Arbuthnot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_no_importance_se/characters/mrs_arbuthnot)

_family_

Gerald is Mrs. Arbuthnot's devoted, loving son, though he is unaware of his true parentage for most of the play.

### [Lord Illingworth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_no_importance_se/characters/lord_illingworth)

_family_

Lord Illingworth is Gerald's biological father, though Gerald initially idolizes him as a mentor before learning the painful truth.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_no_importance_se/characters/gerald_arbuthnot
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_no_importance_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_no_importance_se/characters