A classic. Always concerned with the manners of the upper classes, Wilde takes us into the world of politics and questions of honour among the people who govern. Sir Robert Chiltern is a junior minister in the government of the day: rich, influential and a pillar of the late Victorian establishment, destined for the highest office. Into his life comes the mysterious Mrs Cheveley, a woman with shadowy contacts among the highest echelons of power in Europe. She brings with her a fatally damaging secret which she uses to compromise Chiltern’s position in government and in society – a possibility which shocks Chiltern’s wife and risks her loyalty. In unfolding this dilemma, Wilde mixes bleak morality with his usual garnish of wit and observation, making this a thoroughly entertaining excursion into the elegant drawing rooms of high society in late 19th century London.