An Ideal Husband
Victorian blackmail drama
*An Ideal Husband* is a play by Oscar Wilde, first performed in 1895.
The comedy of manners centers on a respected politician whose past corruption threatens to destroy his marriage and career.
Like Wilde's other society plays, it satirizes Victorian hypocrisy while exploring themes of forgiveness, moral rigidity, and the gap between public reputation and private conduct.
The title carries ironic weight—the "ideal" husband turns out to have significant flaws, while his wife must reckon with her own impossible standards.
- VictorianOf a prim era
- playRecreation or staged drama
- comedyWork meant to amuse
- scandalDisgraceful public affair
- secretsConcealed information
Oscar Wilde · drawing room comedy · secret past · double life · marriage · dandy · blackmail · society · morality · forgiveness · hypocrisy · wit · London · aristocracy · drawing room · epigrams · politics · redemption
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