An Ideal Husband: The Play in Context
Victorian Era
The Victorian Era of Britain is considered the height of the industrial revolution in Britain and the apex of the British
Empire. It is often defined as the years from 1837 to 1901 when Victoria of the United Kingdom reigned.
The Victorian period is now often regarded as one of many contradictions. It is easy for many to see a clash between
the widespread cultivation of an outward appearance of dignity and restraint, and the widespread presence of many
arguably deplorable phenomena. These include prostitution, child labour, and having an economy based largely on
what many would now see as the exploitation of colonies through imperialism, and of the working classes. The
expression “Victorian value” thus may be two-edged.
The term Victorian has acquired a range of connotations, including that of a particularly strict set of moral standards,
often applied hypocritically.
Comparing the Victorian age to our own, some have observed that whilst the Victorians pretended to be much better
than they were, we pretend to be a lot worse than we are. Others disagree.
Victorian Etiquette
In Victorian culture, rules of social interaction were remarkably defined, but if anyone was capable of commenting on
the absurdity of Victorian high society, it was Oscar Wilde. An outsider due to his Irish birth, he nevertheless worked
his way into the London upper-class social circle with his intelligence and charming wit. As an outsider with an
insider's perspective, Wilde chose to satirize the society with which he was so familiar. Victorian rules were strictly
adhered to because to do so was an indication of class and upbringing. Keeping up appearances was extremely
important in Victorian high society. There were so many rules of etiquette that books were published as a sort of
"cheat-sheet" for how to behave.
Comedy Of Manners
The “Comedy of Manners” can be defined as a dramatic genre that is generally a satire
upon social attitudes, most often attacking superficiality and materialism.
The genre has its roots in Restoration comedy, although there have been changes within
the comedy of manners as a genre. The more romantic 18th- and early 19th-century works
present the triumph of truth and virtue over vice and hypocrisy, while the darker
perspectives of the early Restoration and of the late 19th century (such as those of Oscar
Wilde) suggest that true virtue is either dead, or is confined to the lower classes. The most
renowned 20th-century exponent is probably Noël Coward, who portrays self-seeking and
self-gratifying personalities caught up in emotional and circumstantial entanglements.
Aestheticism
Wilde was a leader of the “Aesthetic Movement”, which professed a belief in “art for art’s sake”. This meant that art
shouldn’t be influenced by politics, science, or morality, but should be an expression of whatever it wished to be. Art
shouldn’t merely look to life or nature for inspiration, for art that too closely imitates life is a failure, according to
Wilde. Plays with characters who spoke and acted just like they would in real life were utterly boring to followers of
Wilde’s philosophy. “Realism,” Oscar Wilde said, “is a complete failure.” Wilde also believed that “art was superior to
life and that the one obligation was to transform life into art — to be as ’artificial’ as possible.” In the fine arts, the
Aesthetic Movement was the philosophy behind the Pre-Raphaelites. They strove to create beauty and emotion in
their art, typically focusing on the female body.
, The Victorian Era
The Victorian Period in England was an era of improvements.‖ Victorians seemed to have a positive mania for it. The
Victorians improved public housing and public parks. They redesigned London’s sewers for better sanitation. They built
many of the public buildings that characterize London today (the British Museum, Albert Hall, The Parliamentary
Buildings at Westminster, Big Ben) even Buckingham House got a complete over-hall to become Buckingham Palace.
The reforms also embraced government and policy makers as Britain scrambled to keep up with the changing world of
the Industrial Revolution. Laws were passed that improved working conditions in the factories, that required education
for all classes, and that redesigned England’s voting laws to give better representation.
The advances in science, medicine, and technology during the 19 th century were vast. There seemed to be nothing that
human thought and human will could not improve. And it is perhaps inevitable that along with the making of ideal
societies and systems, the Victorians should also attempt to make ―ideal‖ men and women.
An Ideal Husband opened on London stages in 1895. It was the twilight of the Victorian Era. Oscar Wilde and the elite
society to which he belonged were more inclined to mock the earnestness of their parent’s generation, but they were
products of it none-the-less. The question of what ideal standard men and women should be held to was a topic of
discussion in Wilde’s time driven in a large part by the growing women’s right movement in England. It had long been
acknowledged that there was a double standard between the morality demanded of British women and that required
of British men. How should this inequality be addressed? By relaxing the standards for women? Or by increasing the
standards for men?
As a general rule, the late Victorians favoured the increasing of standards for men. In the years preceding, An Ideal
Husband there had been a number of plays on London stages addressing this topic. Almost always the plot began with
a politician who seemed to be righteous but whose past held a guilty secret. Almost always the plot ended with the
politician killing himself in an agony of remorse or being reformed by his angel of a wife and resigning from office.
In An Ideal Husband, none of these things happens. In An Ideal Husband, Wilde shows his society the folly of expecting
men or women to measure up to an ideal standard. Because no matter how much you improve on the outside, the fact
remains that no man or woman is ideal.
Victorian Era
The Victorian Era of Britain is considered the height of the industrial revolution in Britain and the apex of the British
Empire. It is often defined as the years from 1837 to 1901 when Victoria of the United Kingdom reigned.
The Victorian period is now often regarded as one of many contradictions. It is easy for many to see a clash between
the widespread cultivation of an outward appearance of dignity and restraint, and the widespread presence of many
arguably deplorable phenomena. These include prostitution, child labour, and having an economy based largely on
what many would now see as the exploitation of colonies through imperialism, and of the working classes. The
expression “Victorian value” thus may be two-edged.
The term Victorian has acquired a range of connotations, including that of a particularly strict set of moral standards,
often applied hypocritically.
Comparing the Victorian age to our own, some have observed that whilst the Victorians pretended to be much better
than they were, we pretend to be a lot worse than we are. Others disagree.
Victorian Etiquette
In Victorian culture, rules of social interaction were remarkably defined, but if anyone was capable of commenting on
the absurdity of Victorian high society, it was Oscar Wilde. An outsider due to his Irish birth, he nevertheless worked
his way into the London upper-class social circle with his intelligence and charming wit. As an outsider with an
insider's perspective, Wilde chose to satirize the society with which he was so familiar. Victorian rules were strictly
adhered to because to do so was an indication of class and upbringing. Keeping up appearances was extremely
important in Victorian high society. There were so many rules of etiquette that books were published as a sort of
"cheat-sheet" for how to behave.
Comedy Of Manners
The “Comedy of Manners” can be defined as a dramatic genre that is generally a satire
upon social attitudes, most often attacking superficiality and materialism.
The genre has its roots in Restoration comedy, although there have been changes within
the comedy of manners as a genre. The more romantic 18th- and early 19th-century works
present the triumph of truth and virtue over vice and hypocrisy, while the darker
perspectives of the early Restoration and of the late 19th century (such as those of Oscar
Wilde) suggest that true virtue is either dead, or is confined to the lower classes. The most
renowned 20th-century exponent is probably Noël Coward, who portrays self-seeking and
self-gratifying personalities caught up in emotional and circumstantial entanglements.
Aestheticism
Wilde was a leader of the “Aesthetic Movement”, which professed a belief in “art for art’s sake”. This meant that art
shouldn’t be influenced by politics, science, or morality, but should be an expression of whatever it wished to be. Art
shouldn’t merely look to life or nature for inspiration, for art that too closely imitates life is a failure, according to
Wilde. Plays with characters who spoke and acted just like they would in real life were utterly boring to followers of
Wilde’s philosophy. “Realism,” Oscar Wilde said, “is a complete failure.” Wilde also believed that “art was superior to
life and that the one obligation was to transform life into art — to be as ’artificial’ as possible.” In the fine arts, the
Aesthetic Movement was the philosophy behind the Pre-Raphaelites. They strove to create beauty and emotion in
their art, typically focusing on the female body.
, The Victorian Era
The Victorian Period in England was an era of improvements.‖ Victorians seemed to have a positive mania for it. The
Victorians improved public housing and public parks. They redesigned London’s sewers for better sanitation. They built
many of the public buildings that characterize London today (the British Museum, Albert Hall, The Parliamentary
Buildings at Westminster, Big Ben) even Buckingham House got a complete over-hall to become Buckingham Palace.
The reforms also embraced government and policy makers as Britain scrambled to keep up with the changing world of
the Industrial Revolution. Laws were passed that improved working conditions in the factories, that required education
for all classes, and that redesigned England’s voting laws to give better representation.
The advances in science, medicine, and technology during the 19 th century were vast. There seemed to be nothing that
human thought and human will could not improve. And it is perhaps inevitable that along with the making of ideal
societies and systems, the Victorians should also attempt to make ―ideal‖ men and women.
An Ideal Husband opened on London stages in 1895. It was the twilight of the Victorian Era. Oscar Wilde and the elite
society to which he belonged were more inclined to mock the earnestness of their parent’s generation, but they were
products of it none-the-less. The question of what ideal standard men and women should be held to was a topic of
discussion in Wilde’s time driven in a large part by the growing women’s right movement in England. It had long been
acknowledged that there was a double standard between the morality demanded of British women and that required
of British men. How should this inequality be addressed? By relaxing the standards for women? Or by increasing the
standards for men?
As a general rule, the late Victorians favoured the increasing of standards for men. In the years preceding, An Ideal
Husband there had been a number of plays on London stages addressing this topic. Almost always the plot began with
a politician who seemed to be righteous but whose past held a guilty secret. Almost always the plot ended with the
politician killing himself in an agony of remorse or being reformed by his angel of a wife and resigning from office.
In An Ideal Husband, none of these things happens. In An Ideal Husband, Wilde shows his society the folly of expecting
men or women to measure up to an ideal standard. Because no matter how much you improve on the outside, the fact
remains that no man or woman is ideal.
