male homosexual relations, gave him inspiration for four plays with a common theme of deception. An Ideal Husband, the third one written, touche[d] close on the secret private life of Wilde at this time, a secret life passed in private rooms and hotels, away from his home and his wife. And is there not a secret irony in the title of the play--An Ideal Husband--which the real Oscar certainly was not? (Bird 156) Wilde, just like the Sir Robert Chiltern of his play, was not only not the "ideal husband", but even lied to his wife as well as society at large. Wildes deception of society was necessary; discovery of his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas would and did mean imprisonment as well as major tarnish on his reputation. Wilde also hid his true emotions and often his intentions from the people, writing plays that were "capricious, deceptive, and deliberately intriguing" (Eltis 132). Again, like Robert Chiltern, Wilde feared for his reputation, but instead of covering up the past at all costs like his character, the playwright wrote plays exploring deception and romantic relationships that helped him to express that fear. As Stokes put it, "the final lesson to be drawn from these recent productions, appropriately paradoxical, is that the plays are, more than ever, inseparable from their authors experience, and depend greatly on our seeing that to be the case" (180). Both An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest drew their inspiration from the fear within Wildes personal life, and beyond the clever dialogue lay a reflection of Wildes emotions regarding his uncertain position. The similarities between Wildes art and his life did, however, have a limit; in Oscar Wildes deception plays, a neat and happy conclusion left every character contented. Sir Robert Chiltern maintained the facade of honesty without compromising his newfound morals, his wife renewed her faith in and love for him, and Lord Goring ended up engaged t...
