An Ideal Husband
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- This article is about the play. For the film, see An Ideal Husband (film)
An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedy by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honor. The action is set in London, in "the present", and takes place within a single day. "Sooner or later," Wilde notes, "we shall all have to pay for what we do." But he adds that, "No one should be entirely judged by their past."
Dramatis Personae
- The Earl of Caversham, K.G.
- Lord Goring, his son. Goring is Wilde's doppleganger, who spouts such witticisms as "To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance." His father is the Earl of Caversham and Goring, after an insistence on bachelorhood, by the end of the play is engaged to marry Mabel Chiltern, the sister of his best friend, Sir Robert Chiltern. His Christian name is Arthur.
- Sir Robert Chiltern, Bart., Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs
- Vicomte De Nanjac, Attache at the French Embassy In London
- Mr. Montford
- Mason, butler to Sir Robert Chiltern
- Phipps, Lord Goring's servant
- James, a footman
- Harold, a footman
- Lady Chiltern
- Lady Markby
- The Countess of Basildon
- Mrs. Marchmont
- Miss Mabel Chiltern, Sir Robert Chiltern's sister
- Mrs. Cheveley
Plot
Sir Robert Chiltern, a Government minister, who built his fortune on a single dishonest act, is blackmailed by Mrs Cheveley, who wants his assistance in another dishonest scheme. Chiltern asks Lord Goring, the ne'er-do-well son of the Earl of Caversham, for advice, and Lord Goring, familiar (in several ways) with Mrs Chevely, ultimately saves Chiltern's marriage and social position. By doing so, he ironically ends up married.