An Ideal Husband Study Guide
(Oscar Wilde)

Oscar Wilde was born in 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. His successful parents combined with natural writing genius earned him numerous awards and scholarships throughout his youth. He went to college at both Trinity and Oxford, where he honed his writing skills and also helped found the aesthetic movement.

After his time in school, he moved to London, England, where he became what some call the original "dandy". A dandy is a man who is young, overly concerned with appearance, intellectual and rebellious. Many of Oscar Wilde's characters exemplify these characteristics, and sometimes serve to represent Oscar Wilde himself. Lord Goring in An Ideal Husband, for instance, is an example of this.

The early 1890's brought Oscar Wilde to the height of his career. His novel, Dorian Gray, first earned him fame through its scandalous exploration of Victorian themes. Shortly after the novel Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde began producing plays. An Ideal Husband was written in 1893, after Dorian Gray and before The Importance of Being Earnest.

He began writing An Ideal Husband during the summer of 1893, and completed it that same winter. The first theatre he sent the manuscript to refused it, but the Haymarket theatre decided to put it on. The Haymarket had been taken over by a man named Lewis Waller, and wasn't doing too well. Waller, also a talented actor, played Robert Chiltern in the original run. The huge success of the play brought Oscar Wilde into the forefront of theatre, and that same year he released The Importance of Being Earnest, his most successful play.

Soon after his plays opened on the stage, however, Oscar's name was taken off them because of his arrest. In the early 1890's, no one is sure exactly when, Oscar Wilde began having an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas. It was this affair that led to his arrest, and because of the sensitivity to homosexuality in society at the time, no one wanted his name associated with the plays any longer. When the manuscript for An Ideal Husband was eventually published in 1899, Oscar Wilde's name still did not appear as the author.

Looking back at the events of Oscar's life at the time, it is easy to see how Oscar Wilde inserts himself and his personal experiences into his plays. Oscar was blackmailed by a friend who found a love letter to Alfred just as Robert was blackmailed by Mrs. Cheveley with a letter from his past. Oscar rebelled against the norms of Victorian society and urged forgiveness for sins instead of judgment. In this respect, Oscar also resembles Sir Robert.

Oscar Wilde's firm belief in aestheticism also comes across strongly in his plays, especially his dandy characters such as Lord Goring. Aestheticism is a philosophy which upholds beauty, freedom and style above other, more constricting, morals common in that era of society. Up until his arrest, Oscar lived a relatively carefree life. He floated around in fashionable circles, enjoyed talking about philosophy extensively, and, in general, lived for pleasure. This is why characters such as Lord Caversham are seen as stuffy and unpleasant, while characters such as Lord Goring are oddly admirable.