An
Ideal Husband
The heirs of
Wilde have reaped a harvest in such plays as The World of Paul Slickey
and The End of Me Old Cigar (Osborne) and Dirty Linen/New-Found-Land
(Stoppard).
Parker’s
screenplay establishes Baron Arnheim, the stockbroker. Wealth is nothing, power
over men is all. Information is the commodity of the age.
“Where is
the wisdom we have lost in knowledge,” asked Oliver on his travels, “the
knowledge we have lost in information?”
A game of
blackmail, acted out with conscious appreciation of The School for Scandal.