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Teaching An Ideal Husband

Wilde out with An Ideal Husband.

  • Activities: 13
  • Quiz Questions: 62

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Oscar Wilde's 1895 play follows a man named Sir Robert Chiltern who's faced with public ruin when a secret from the past emerges (with Wilde, you knew it was coming). Enter Lord Gorin, the author's fictional doppelganger, complete with cape and cane. He argues for compassion and acceptance of each others' faults.

Hmmm. Sounds sort of serious, but Wilde was a master at stretching the popular genre of his time, the "drawing room comedy." You know, lots of good jokes about which fork to use. Hardy har har.

At the heart of this play, though, are its relationships. It's really about how to live with other people. How do humans, with our very different personalities and expectations, understand each other? Should we keep from judging others, or do our judgments give us important information about how we want to conduct our own lives? Peel back the many layers with our Shmoop guide, as you and your students explore the complexities of dealing with other people and their past—along with how Wilde's play reflects its times.

In this guide, you'll find

  • an examination of one character's change of heart and what it says about the Victorian era.
  • a debate activity that analyzes the plight of Victorian women.
  • a look at the play's ending and how it corresponds to Wilde's social and historical context.

Wilde's humor can be a bit difficult to pierce at first, but let our Shmoop guide take you to the heart of what he was poking fun at and why. You might even get a few genuine laughs out of your high schoolers—and as we, a bunch of failed comedy writers-turned-curriculum-gurus know, this is the holy grail of education.

What's Inside Shmoop's Literature Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring literature to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 13 – 18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students
  • Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text
  • Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students
  • A note from Shmoop’s teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles

Want more help teaching Teaching An Ideal Husband?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: The end of An Ideal Husband is a bit of a puzzle. Sir Robert gets his government position but only when his partner has her arm twisted. At the same time though, there's something more interesting going on here when you take into account the play's historical and social context.

In this hour-long activity, the students will prepare and perform a short presentation about the end of Wilde's play, giving their take on its significance and showing how Lady C could be viewed as being in a position of influence.

You can start this activity when your class has finished reading the drama, so they know exactly what's gone down.

Materials Needed: New Statesman's article "Meet the Victorian Women Who Fought Back," a copy of the text, and/or our Shmoop summary page

Step 1: Get the students to split into groups of four and read the New Statesman'sarticle "Meet the Victorian Women Who Fought Back." They should take ten minutes to read the article and then five to write short answers to the following questions:

  • How did the Victorian feminist movement begin?
  • What rights did the movement attain for Victorian women?
  • How did the experiences of the Victorian woman in the 1870s differ to the 1830s version?

A brief class discussion can follow where you can ask various groups how they answered the questions. This'll make sure that everyone knows that the Victorian women were fighting for more rights.

Step 2: In the same groups, have students prepare a brief five-minute in-class presentation detailing why they think the ending of the play is significant, even though Lady Chiltern is pretty much forced into allowing her partner to take on the government position. As they're speaking, they should plan to write their main ideas as bullet points on the board or projector, for everyone to see.

The groups must include the following, so as to avoid veering off topic:

  • A brief description of the ending
  • An explanation of why there's hope at the close, even when Lady Chiltern is forced to accept her husband's government position
  • A connection between Lady Chiltern's situation and the Victorian women in the New Statesman article, showing how Lady Chiltern relates to the women described
  • A prediction about how Lady Chiltern will enjoy further influence after the play has finished, using reference to the drama

Here's a set of guidelines for the presentation:

  • Each student has to give part of the presentation, speaking for one minute.
  • They can't repeat what any other student has said.
  • There must be references to the play and New Statesman article in some part of the presentation.

The groups can have 20 minutes to plan their presentations, so ideally the first five minutes will go toward general discussion of how it'll all play out. Then the last fifteen can be used to focus on what each speaker is going to talk about.

Step 3: Have students give their presentations. Once they've seen the other students' views, have them write a short mini-essay—in class or for homework—that argues which one of the couples will have the most equal marriage after the play comes to a close. In their reflection, make sure students keep the women's rights movement in mind—as well as couples who don't have an equal marriage at the text's conclusion.

Instructions for Your Students

The end of An Ideal Husband is a bit of a puzzle. Sir Robert gets his government position but only when his partner has her arm twisted. At the same time though, there's something more interesting going on here when you take into account the play's historical and social context.

In this hour-long activity, the students will prepare and perform a short presentation about the end of Wilde's play, giving their take on its significance and showing how Lady C could be viewed as being in a position of influence.

You can start this activity when you've finished reading the drama, so you know exactly what's gone down and have just begun thinking about whether the characters will live happily ever after.

Step 1: It doesn't look too good for Lady C at the end of the drama. She wants Rob out of political life, as far away as possible, but she's forced to let him keep working with the government. But this doesn't have to be a bleak ending: in fact, it may be read as Lady Chiltern's growing influence in the marriage, reflective of the Victorian women's fight for equality in the 19th century.

Split into groups of four and take ten minutes to read the New Statesman's article "Meet the Victorian Women Who Fought Back." When you're done, you can have another five to write down brief answers to the following questions:

  • How did the Victorian feminist movement begin?
  • What rights did the movement attain for Victorian women?
  • How did the experiences of the Victorian woman in the 1870s differ to the 1830s version?

One student should take the reins and ask the others how they want to answer the questions, which should be three to four lines long.

Step 2: Your group now has to prep a five-minute presentation arguing the significance of the ending, even though at first it seems as though Lady C just doesn't get her way. It'll be an in-class presentation, and should include the following:

  • A brief description of the ending
  • An explanation of why there's hope at the close, even when Lady Chiltern is forced to accept her husband's government position
  • A connection between Lady Chiltern's situation and the Victorian women in the New Statesman article, showing how Lady Chiltern relates to the women described
  • A prediction about how Lady Chiltern will enjoy further influence after the play has finished, using reference to the drama

As you're speaking, you should write your main ideas as bullet points on the board or projector, for everyone to see.

Here's a quick example, to get you started:

  • Lady Chiltern is convinced by Goring to allow her husband to accept the government job.
  • But it's not all darkness and despair, as this indicates that the woman is getting more influence in the marriage sphere (her permission is needed).
  • This links to the New Statesman article: Lady Chiltern is an example of the growing success of the feminist movement in the marriage realm.
  • We can presume Lady Chiltern will have more of a say in future affairs, especially as the couples promise to love each other realistically at the end of the play.

Finally, here are some brief guidelines, just to make sure the presentation is as impressive as possible:

  • Each student has to give part of the presentation, speaking for one minute.
  • They can't repeat what any other student has said.
    There must be references to the play and New Statesman article in some part of the presentation.

Step 3: You'll give your presentation. Once you've seen other students' views, write a short mini-essay that argues which one of the couples will have the most equal marriage after the play comes to a close. In your reflection, make sure to keep the women's rights movement in mind—as well as couples who don't have an equal marriage at the text's conclusion.