Structure

Wilde: An Ideal Husband

In this course, Professor Anne Varty (Royal Holloway, University of London) explores Oscar Wilde’s 1895 drama, An Ideal Husband. We begin by thinking about the structure of the play, focusing in particular on the ways in which Wilde both conforms to and subverts the dramatic form known as the ‘well-made play’. In the second module, we consider the themes of marriage and moral absolutism, before turning in the third module to an analysis of each of the four major characters in the play – Lord Goring, Lord and Lady Chiltern and Mrs Cheveley. Finally, in the fourth module, we think about the critical reception of An Ideal Husband, from its earliest critics (George Bernard Shaw and William Archer) to the present day (Regenia Gagnier, Kerry Powell, etc.).

Structure

In this module, we think about the structure of An Ideal Husband, focusing in particular on the ways in which Wilde both conforms to and subverts the dramatic form known as the ‘well-made play’. As we move through the module, we consider: (i) the standard structure of the ‘well-made play’; (ii) the convention that everything returns to normal by the end of the play; (iii) the figure of the raisonneur – his traditional identity and his identity in An Ideal Husband; (iv) the complexity of Act III; and (v) the importance of setting in Act II and Act IV.