She is carrying a secret letter as evidence of his past perfidy with the government.

Cheveley’s arrival brings trouble for Robert.

The play opens with an alluring couple of significant wealth, stature, accomplishment, and respect among the elite in London, the Chilterns! Is he or is he not? That’s the question across 4 acts, the following is a spoiler-free abridged synopsis. Robert Chiltern (the ideal husband), working as Under-Secretary of the Foreign Affairs office is enjoying a perfect marriage and social image. The play divulges themes of public and private honor, social status, while using mediums of blackmailing and political-social corruption! The other two most important themes are marriage as an institution and the power of forgiveness in it. It in all perceptibility and plausibility delineates that the concept of “an ideal husband” is just a misnomer 😊It is just titular! Women end up idolizing their husbands, silhouetting them in an image which they never adhere to, turning out to be mere impostors! :P This play belonging to the 1890s depicts the hypocritical aristocratic group of people from London. An Ideal Husband is a must-read for Wilde fans, students of English literature, and anyone delighted by wit, urbanity, and timeless sophistication. An instant success at its 1895 debut, the play continues to delight audiences over one hundred years later. Like most of Wilde's plays, this scintillating drawing-room comedy is wise, well-constructed, and deeply satisfying. A supporting cast of young lovers, society matrons, an overbearing father, and a formidable femme fatale continually exchange sparkling repartee, keeping the play moving at a lively pace. His witty, clever drama, populated by brilliant talkers skilled in the art of riposte and paradox, are still staples of the theatrical repertoire.Īn Ideal Husband revolves around a blackmail scheme that forces a married couple to reexamine their moral standards - providing, along the way, a wry commentary on the rarity of politicians who can claim to be ethically pure. Although Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) created a wide range of poetry, essays, and fairy tales (and one novel) in his brief, tragic life, he is perhaps best known as a dramatist.

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde