An Ideal Husband

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An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedy by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honor. The action is set in London, in "the present", and takes place within a single day. "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."

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Dramatis Personae

The Earl of Caversham, K.G.
Viscount Goring, his son
Sir Robert Chiltern, Bart., Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Vicomte De Nanjac, Attache at the French Embassy In London
Mr. Montford
Mason, butler to Sir Robert Chiltern
Phipps, Lord Goring's servant
James, a footman
Harold, a footman
Lady Chiltern
Lady Markby
The Countess of Basildon
Mrs. Marchmont
Miss Mabel Chiltern, Sir Robert Chiltern's sister
Mrs. Cheveley

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Plot

Sir Robert Chiltern, a Government minister, who built his fortune on a single dishonest act, is blackmailed by Mrs Cheveley, who wants his assistance in another dishonest scheme. Chiltern asks Lord Goring, the ne'er-do-well son of the Earl of Caversham, for advice, and Lord Goring, familiar (in several ways) with Mrs Chevely, ultimately saves Chiltern's marriage and social position.

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Film adaptation

1999 film: see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122541/

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