Penguin Readers Factsheets an Ideal Husband
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Penguin Readers Factsheets Level 3 – Pre-intermediate An Ideal Husband Level Teacher’s Notes An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde English-speaking world. Many of his witty sayings are still repeated Summary and enjoyed today. As a young man, he wore his hair long, dressed colourfully and carried flowers. After his marriage to Constance An Ideal Husband is about a group of rich people in London during Lloyd in 1884, he published several children’s books. (The Selfish the 1890s. Sir Robert Chiltern, is the ‘ideal husband’ who works in Giant now in the Penguin Young Reader series is one of his the government’s foreign office and has a happy marriage, or stories.) does he? In Act 1, a beautiful and sophisticated woman called Mrs Cheveley arrives. She has been out of England. Her arrival brings Background and themes trouble for Sir Robert. She has a secret letter about him and she wants him to get the government to agree to a building plan for The play is light and very amusing but there are many themes in it. Argentina, which will make her rich. Sir Robert tells his wife, Lady It takes place in the London society of the 1890s, among rich Chiltern. She asks him not to do what Mrs Cheveley wants. Mrs people who don’t need to work. They spend a lot of time at parties Cheveley then tells Lady Chiltern that Sir Robert once sold a and social events. Some of the men are in government. This puts government secret to a businessman for money. This information is them in the position of telling others how to run their lives, so revealed in Mrs Cheveley’s ‘letter’. In fact, Mrs Cheveley is using the should they lead good lives themselves and set a good example? letter to blackmail Sir Robert. Or is it not important what they do in their own life? Lord Goring is a good friend to both Sir Robert and Lady Chiltern One of the messages of the play is that people in government have and he loves Sir Robert’s sister, Mabel. In Act 2, Goring suggests more opportunity to make money and so they should be honest and to Sir Robert that to stop Mrs Cheveley making trouble for Sir truthful, and not try to make money out of helping to run the country. Robert, he needs to find out something bad about her. In Act 3 it is Wilde suggests that someone who is good is difficult to live with Lord Goring who is able to get the letter back, by proving to Mrs because they don’t understand other people making mistakes or Cheveley that he knows she is a thief. Lady Chiltern is very upset doing wrong. Sir Robert feels unable to tell his wife what happened because she can no longer think of her husband as honest. many years ago, because she, who would never do anything In Act 3 Lord Goring is at home waiting for Lady Chiltern, who wrong, will not understand. His wife’s love is imperfect at the start has sent him a letter asking if she can talk to him. Mrs Cheveley of the play, because it is conditional. Mabel Chiltern understands steals this letter while she is waiting to talk to Lord Goring. Sir this problem and says she doesn’t want a perfect husband. Robert has also come to talk to Goring. He finds out that Mrs A positive thing about the play is that both Sir Robert and Lady Cheveley is in the next room. Lord Goring thinks it is Lady Chiltern Chiltern are willing to change. Lady Chiltern is able to forgive her who is there and he tells Sir Robert that the lady loves him. This husband. Sir Robert is ready to stop his work in the government to makes Sir Robert angry with Lord Goring. Mrs Cheveley thinks that please her. This helps their marriage become happier. the stolen letter addressed to Goring is a love letter and she later sends it to Sir Robert. An Ideal Husband is a kind of love story. Lady Chiltern loves her husband because of the picture she has of him. Sir Robert loves In Act 4 Lady Chiltern learns that Sir Robert’s secret is safe, but his wife, and wants her to admire him always. It is a love that that Mrs Cheveley has sent her (Lady Chiltern’s) letter to Goring. Sir leaves no room for change and so is imperfect. Only when Lady Robert thinks the letter was written to him, and so it doesn’t make Chiltern realises she can forgive him for not being perfect can their him angry, as he thinks it shows that his wife loves him again. He love grow. Mabel Chiltern and Lord Goring are also in love, but doesn’t want to upset her again, so when Lord Caversham tells him behave very differently. that the prime minister wants to give him a more important government job, he says he cannot take it. Lord Goring tells Lady Wilde makes fun of the these people, but in a gentle way that Chiltern that she should let her husband take the job. It is important makes you smile. For example, he writes,‘How can you say he is to him. Lady Chiltern understands this. She has changed and is able lazy, when he goes horse-riding… changes his clothes five times a to forgive her husband. In the last scene Mabel and Goring prepare day.’ ‘I love talking about nothing. It’s the only thing I understand.’; to get married and Sir Robert and Lady Chiltern’s marriage is safe. ‘I have given a lot of money to the poor.’ ‘To the poor, was that really a good idea?’; ‘Her daughter is getting married … it is very sad’; ‘She’s as cold and perfect as all good women. She will never About the author forgive me.’ In successful plays, the characters change during Oscar Wilde was a clever writer of plays and poems. His most the play. In An Ideal Husband Lady Chiltern learns to famous play, The Importance of Being Earnest, is one of the most forgive and love her husband. famous plays in the English language and is performed all over the © Pearson Education Limited 2002 Penguin Readers Factsheets Level 3 – Pre-intermediate An Ideal Husband Level Teacher’s Notes (b) Scene 1, Sir Robert and in scene 2, Lady Chiltern, talk to Communicative activities Lord Goring. Scene 3, Lord Goring talks to Mabel Chiltern. Scene 4, Mrs Cheveley, Lady Markby and Lady Chiltern talk together, and in scene 5, Lady Chiltern and ACTIVITIES BEFORE READING THE BOOK Sir Robert are together. 1 Ask students: Which do you prefer, plays or films? Ask (c) Scene 1, Sir Robert talks to Mrs Cheveley. Scene 2, students to explain why they prefer plays or films. Lady Chiltern talks to Lord Goring. Scene 3, Sir Robert 2 Ask the class to imagine that they will be performing An Ideal and Lord Goring talk. Scene 4, lady Markby and Lady Husband. How will they plan it? Ask students to make a list of Chiltern talk together. Scene 5, Sir Robert and Mrs the things that they will need to do, (For example, they will Cheveley are talking together. need to choose actors, a director, costume-makers. They will 3 Students work in pairs and act out scene 5, using the picture need to rehearse the play.) on page 25. The class can vote for the pair who put the most 3 Ask the students to study the photo on the cover of the book. feeling into the acting. Ask them to write three sentences about the man in the photo. Acts 3 and 4 Then ask them to read the four sentences about the book at 1 Students should write a short summary about what happens to: the back of the book. Checking that they understand all the (a) Sir Robert’s letter, (c) the bracelet vocabulary, ask them if they can now give the name of the man (b) Lady Chiltern’s letter on the front. How does what they wrote fit/not fit with the text? 2 Students work in pairs. Describe the following situation for 4 Ask students to ook up the word ‘ideal’ in the dictionary and students to discuss. Ask them to try and be honest and to discuss what it means in general, and then what it means in give reasons for their decision. the title of the play.(Ideal: the best possible, perfect. Imagine that you need money quickly or you will be in ACTIVITIES AFTER READING A SECTION trouble. You have a secret letter about someone in government which you could sell to the newspapers. If the Act 1 secret is published it will hurt this person, but you will be 1 Students work in pairs. They answer the questions below. helped. What would you do in this situation? (a) The title of Act 1 is ‘A Surprise Guest’. Who is this? (b) Where does Act 1 take place? ACTIVITIES AFTER READING THE BOOK (c) Who says ‘I hate learning.’? 1 Students work in pairs. Ask students to write separate (d) What is the name of Lord Caversham’s son? descriptions about what happened durng the play to: (e) What is Lady Chiltern’s first name? (f) Which characters were at school together? (a) Mabel Chiltern and Lord Goring (g) Mabel Chiltern finds something that Mrs Cheveley has (b) Sir Robert and Lady Chiltern lost.