An Ideal Husband - A Social Study

Many plays, whether dramatic or comedic, have ties into the social issues and setting of the time they were written. Writers such as Anton Chekhov, Tennessee Williams, and even Mark Twain have used the society of their time to produce satirical and even tragic works of literature. One of the best examples of a play that gathers meaning from societal values is Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband. In 1893 Oscar Wilde began writing his fourth of five works (Tornaritis, Nicholas. Shelby, C. ed. "An Ideal Husband Background."), which would later mark the height of his career. The setting that served as inspiration and backdrop for An Ideal Husband was the 1890’s, often called the “Naughty Nineties.” This was a time of industrial growth in England ("An Ideal Husband: Context."). Revenue was flowing in from the colonies and the progress gave London a reputation of being an imperial giant. In addition to the industrial progression there were many other movements and events occurring. Canal schemes, such as the one used as a conflict in An Ideal Husband, were a real and current event in that decade. The Suez Canal was quite newsworthy at the time so Wilde’s invention of another Canal scheme was a clever way to connect the audience to the plot of the play in a relatable way. Women were also working towards further education and liberation (Shmoop Editorial Team. "An Ideal Husband Setting."), another thing that Wilde tied into his story when Gertrude Chiltern mentions her attendance of the Women’s Liberation Association.
Societal values were on a much more conservative track in that time as well. “Ideal” men were a necessity for the time. Victorian values put down the idea of the “dandy” such as Lord Goring, and praised men who had high power political positions and white-washed reputations ("An Ideal Husband: Context."). Robert Chiltern is the epitome of what Victorian society deemed the “ideal” man at that time; a man with high standing and deep moral values. Chiltern’s