She wants MP Robert Chiltern to drop objections to a canal construction enterprise in which she has heavily invested and threatens to blackmail him by revealing a secret from his own past if he will not co-operate. Unlike her predecessors who have been forced out of society and victimised for giving birth to illegitimate children, Mrs Cheveley is altogether a much nastier piece of work.
This time round it is the turn of Mrs Cheveley. Mrs Erlynne ( Lady Windermere’s Fan) and Mrs Arbuthnot ( A Woman Of No Importance) in his two earlier plays. Wilde seems to relish “a woman with a past” as the motivators of his plots – c.f. Beyond the writing, the cast generally get the balance exactly right and the direction seems to hit the sweet spot so that it is not all artifice. The social comedy, of course, sparkles and the epigrams are still plentiful there are even elements of farce in the plot to lighten the mood. The play has the usual Wildean tendency towards Victorian melodrama but the contemporary nature of many of the themes lends the work a new sense of depth and perspective.
This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper. Wilde's play is a first-rate comedy that challenges its audience with the basic theme of morality and the greater standard that seems to fall upon those individuals in the public eye. Immediately popular after its first production, "An Ideal Husband" continues to entertain and challenge audiences to this day. With the help of a complex and fascinating cast of supporting characters, Sir Robert and Lady Chiltern must re-evaluate their moral convictions and what constitutes honor in the private and public sphere. With his biting wit and brilliant powers of observation, Wilde highlights the moral ambiguity of politicians and the hypocrisy of the British aristocracy.
Lady Chiltern has a very particular idea of what makes the "ideal husband" which leaves her with little tolerance for Sir Robert's all too human shortcomings and compromises.
The play tells the story of an up-and-coming politician, Sir Robert Chiltern, who tries to hide his secret past from his judgmental wife and the blackmail scheme he is forced to participate in to keep that secret quiet. First performed in 1895, "An Ideal Husband" is Oscar Wilde's classic and much-loved comedic drama.
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