'An Ideal Husband' by Oscar Wilde - A Review

Oscar Wilde No. 3

Rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre - play, romance, comedy

Themes - love, class, morality, women, politics

Similar plays - 'An Inspector Calls' - J.B Priestley, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' - Oscar Wilde

'An Ideal Husband' by Oscar Wilde begins at a social gathering hosted by Sir Robert Chiltern and his wife Lady Chiltern. When the uninvited guest Mrs Cheveley appears threatening to reveal the crime Sir Chiltern did to acquire his social standing, chaos entails to both hide and reveal the truth.

Like any of Wilde's work 'An Ideal Husband' is rich with symbolism, especially in the stage directions that are blunt about the symbolic meaning of certain items and also philosophical in themselves. It makes the stage directions seem more intimate than just directions and I find that really interesting. There's lots of references to art and classical traditions. Is the art about a façade of morality? Is it to show upper class status? Is it to make the characters seem artificial or insignificant? Who knows. The balance of the scene shatters the moment Mrs Cheveley enters the conversation. She reveals the scandalous deed Sir Robert Chiltern did for wealth and power, yet she isn't free from sins herself, illustrating how we all have a balance of good and evil within us and no one is purely good or bad. But then there's always Lady Chiltern, the voice of morality in the play who prevents her husband from straying from it, praising him for his virtue and making this the basis of her love for him. Perhaps this shows the toxicity of having idealistic opinions of our lovers - it prevents us from seeing them as human, fallible to making mistakes that is essential to personal development. But what I think the overall message of this play is the Triumph of Love (made obvious within the stage directions), as not only is this about politics, but it is also a romance. Love is what drives characters to make sacrifices or do crime, and the powerful influence of love is what I consider the message of this play.

The duality between public appearance and the true self seems like a key theme in all Wilde's writings as it is explored in both this play and 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. The expose of private crimes within the play is reminiscent to J.B Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls'. Mrs Cheveley reminded me of Inspector Goole, even if the impacts of this play isn't as treacherous 'An Inspector Calls' and we have a happy ending in 'An Ideal Husband'. 

I give this play by Oscar Wilde four out of five stars. Although it still holds relevance today and has a really sweet message of love, I think the plotting isn't as clever as 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. Do still give it a read, it is Oscar Wilde.