An Ideal Husband

This play is set in the dazzling social world of 1890's London. It is the world of the aristocrat and the dandy - and it is also the world of shabby political and financial intrigue. Sir Robert Chiltern is a man who seems to have everything - money, power, an important position, and a wife who idealises him. Sir Robert finds his world threatened with collapse by the arrival of the sinister Mrs Cheveley in London. Mrs Cheveley knows that Sir Robert has a shameful secret in his past and she will destroy him if he doesn't do what she wants. Oscar Wilde's play combines farce, verbal wit and satire in this gripping comedy. The play also contains an argument about the nature of love, and the need for women to forgive rather than idealise their husbands. A wide variety of activities accompanies the full text of the play. The activities are designed to check comprehension, and to develop an understanding of the themes of the play. An audio CD offers several passages from the play.