An Ideal Husband

Oscar Wilde

An Ideal Husband — Sir Robert and Lady Chiltern are the picture of responsibility: he a member of the House of Commons, she a member of the Women’s Liberal Association. When Mrs. Cheveley arrives in London, she brings with her a letter that threatens to ruin Sir Robert forever—his whole life threatens to come crumbling down. The following twenty-four hours are filled with theft, blackmail, farce, and biting social commentary. An Ideal Husband opened at the Haymarket Theatre on 3 January 1895 and was an immediate success. Amid the scandal surrounding Wilde’s arrest on 5 April on charges of gross indecency, his name disappeared from the Haymarket publicity. When the production moved to the Criterion Theatre on 13 April, Charles Wyndham restored the author credit. Wilde revised the play for publication in 1899, adding stage directions and character descriptions to make it more accessible to readers. It remains one of his best-known plays, alongside The Importance of Being Earnest.