An Ideal Husband is a satirical play about blackmail, politics, morality, and marriage by Victorian writer Oscar Wilde. It was first performed at the Theatre Royal in Haymarket, London, on January 3, 1895. Wilde was an acclaimed playwright in London at the time, though his imprisonment in late 1895 marked his fall from public grace. The play has since been adapted for both film and theater across the world, as have many of Wilde’s other plays and novels. An Ideal Husband examines the staunch moralism of Victorian England, exploring themes of Life as Art, Fashionable Morality Versus Authentic Marriage, and The Meaning of Class and Gender in a Modern World.

This study guide uses a collection of Oscar Wilde’s plays entitled The Importance of Being Earnest & Other Plays, published by MacMillan Collector’s Library in 2017. An Ideal Husband is on pages 195-318.

Plot Summary

Sir Robert Chiltern, a member of the House of Commons and director of Foreign Offices, hosts a party where the height of English society gather to discuss their morals and their boredom. In attendance are Lord Goring and his father, Lord Caversham, as well as Mabel Chiltern, Sir Robert’s sister. As the evening’s festivities progress, Lady Markby arrives with Mrs. Cheveley, who is visiting from Vienna. Mrs. Cheveley tells Sir Robert that he must support her investment in the Argentine Canal scheme—something Sir Robert knows will fail. Mrs. Cheveley reveals a letter that Sir Robert wrote years ago instructing his friend, Baron Arnheim, to buy stocks in the Suez Canal days before the government invested; this made both Sir Robert and the baron wealthy. Mrs. Cheveley tells Sir Robert that as long as he convinces the House of Commons to invest in the Argentine Canal the next evening, she’ll give him the letter and keep his secret hidden. Before she leaves, Mrs. Cheveley drops a diamond brooch on the couch. Lord Goring finds it, telling no one else but Mabel.

Should Mrs. Cheveley share this secret, Sir Robert knows he will be ruined and—worst of all—so will his marriage. Frantic about how to resolve his predicament, Sir Robert confides in Lord Goring. Together, they determine to write to Vienna and see if Mrs. Cheveley has scandals of her own they can use to blackmail her. Though Lord Goring was once engaged to Mrs. Cheveley, there is nothing he can think of that Sir Robert could use against her. Lord Goring also tells Sir Robert he must be honest with his wife, but Sir Robert tells Lord Goring that she’d never love him again if she were to find out.

Lady Chiltern, meanwhile, remembers Mrs. Cheveley from her school years and knows she is a deceptive woman. When she confronts her, Mrs. Cheveley reveals Sir Robert’s secret to her. Lady Chiltern responds with disgust and writes to Lord Goring, her friend and confidant, asking for his help. Though Lord Goring expects Lady Chiltern, it is Mrs. Cheveley who visits—a fact that goes unnoticed at first since Lord Goring’s butler admits her while Lord Goring is tied up with his father. While Mrs. Cheveley waits, she discovers the letter Lady Chiltern wrote to Lord Goring, steals it, and hides it within her dress. Sir Robert then appears to tell Lord Goring that his wife knows of his secret. He hears something coming from the drawing room, where Mrs. Cheveley waits. When he sees who is there, he leaves in anger, feeling betrayed by his friend.

Meanwhile, Lord Goring thinks it was Lady Chiltern whom Sir Robert saw. Once Lord Goring realizes the visitor was Mrs. Cheveley, he confronts her with the diamond brooch she left behind—a gift he gave to his cousin years ago and that he knows she stole. He clips it to her arm, threatening to report her theft to his cousin and the police unless she gives him Sir Robert’s letter. Trapped, Mrs. Cheveley turns over the letter. Before she leaves, however, she reveals to Lord Goring that she’s stolen the letter Lady Chiltern wrote to him and will send it to Sir Robert, suggesting he is having an affair with Lady Chiltern.

Sir Robert refuses to support the Argentine Scheme to the House of Commons, not knowing that Lord Goring has burned the letter. Lady Chiltern expresses her gratitude to her husband, and they decide that he should leave politics. Shortly after, however, Lord Caversham offers Sir Robert a seat in Parliament. Lord Goring convinces Lady Chiltern to let him take it, arguing that she is no better than Mrs. Cheveley in making him try to live up to impossible moral ideals. Lord Goring, who is in love with Mabel, proposes to her, and the play ends in joy for both couples.