An Ideal Husband

by Oscar Wilde

Overview

An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. The action is set in London, in "the present", and takes place over the course of twenty-four hours. "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." Together with The Importance of Being Earnest, it is often considered Wilde's dramatic masterpiece. After Earnest it is his most popularly produced play.

Reception

The play proved extremely popular in its original run, lasting over a hundred performances. Critics also lauded Wilde's balance of a multitude of theatrical elements within the play. George Bernard Shaw praised the play saying "Mr. Wilde is to me our only thorough Playwright. He plays with everything; with wit, with philosophy, with drama, with actors and audience, with the whole theatre."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781494976163
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	01/11/2014
Pages:	114
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.27(d)

About the Author

Wilde, Oscar O'Flaherty (1856-1900). -- Poet and dramatist, s. of Sir William W., the eminent surgeon, was b. at Dublin, and ed. there at Trinity Coll. and at Oxf. He was one of the founders of the modern cult of the æsthetic. Among his writings are Poems (1881), The Picture of Dorian Gray, a novel, and several plays, including Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of no Importance, and The Importance of being Earnest. He was convicted of a serious offence, and after his release from prison went abroad and d. at Paris. Coll. ed. of his works, 12 vols., 1909.

Date of Birth:

October 16, 1854

Date of Death:

November 30, 1900

Place of Birth:

Dublin, Ireland

Place of Death:

Paris, France

Education:

The Royal School in Enniskillen, Dublin, 1864; Trinity College, Dublin, 1871; Magdalen College, Oxford, England, 1874

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7 Up Lovers of Oscar Wilde's stories will delight in this new illustrated version of The Canterville Ghost if the picture book format does not keep them from finding it. Wilde's story of an American family who moves into Canterville Chase and annoys a weary ghost with their lack of belief in him is a wry commentary on the ways of British nobility and of their hard-headed American cousins. Like many of Wilde's tales, this one is filled with sophisticated allusions to his social and political milieu, but ends as sentimental romance. Zwerger's wry pictures highlight this tone beautifully. Her toothless ghost is round and comical, as would suit a ghost whom no one fears, and her heroine, Virginia, is young and sweetly boyish. All of the illustrations are set against misty gray watercolor backgrounds except for the climactic scene, echoed on the front cover, in which the tiny huntsmen on the wallpaper call out to Virginia to ``Go Back.'' This will make a fine read-aloud for audiences of secondary students who are prepared to savor Wilde's ironic humor and Zwerger's delicate watercolors. Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie

School Library Journal

The L.A. Theatre Works performs plays tailored for a radio format before live audiences. The works are treats for the ear: Each features first-rate performances, rich but not overdone sound effects, evocative background music, expert engineering and the immediacy of an audience’s live responses. AN IDEAL HUSBAND, Oscar Wilde's 1895 comedy, shows how a good adaptation of a classic play can speak to the present age. Martin Jarvis and director Michael Hackett have slightly streamlined Wilde's play about a rising politician with a secret in his past whose efforts to prevent exposure call attention to the hypocrisy of holding our leaders to higher standards than we ourselves live by. The large cast handles the witty dialogue with delicacy: Jacqueline Bisset charmingly plays one of dramatic literature's most polite blackmailers. The insouciance of the performances emphasizes rather than detracts from the play's serious theme of social hypocrisy. G.H. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine

MAY 98 - AudioFile