Thankfully, by the end of the play that aim has been achieved with assistance from Robert and his wife. Goring constantly baffles his father with convoluted statements about paradoxes, buttonholes and triviality whilst Lord Caversham despairingly encourages him to marry. In particular, I found the ‘flawless dandy’ Lord Goring’s relationship with his traditionalist father quite comical. The characters, too, are wonderfully amusing, if a little stereotypical. Typical of its author, the conclusion occurs after at least two cases of mistaken identity, a brooch is stolen, several letters are misinterpreted and there have been some wonderful monologues on contemporary gender roles. Romantic subplots concerning Chiltern’s wife, best friend and their social group complement the main storyline well and prevent the overall play from appearing overly serious. We follow his various attempts to control the situation whilst keeping his wife in the dark and preventing a great public scandal. The play centres around Sir Robert Chiltern, a high-standing politician being blackmailed by the altogether repellent Mrs Cheveley, a Viennese socialite. But I have found a new favourite in An Ideal Husband, which was written in 1893 and is charmingly satirical. Many people recognise Oscar Wilde for his famous Gothic-style novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, or his well-known lighthearted comedy The Importance of Being Earnest – both excellent works of fiction.
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