In 1934, Rand wrote Ideal twice. It was first conceived and drafted as a novel, but Rand was dissatisfied with her draft and did not edit the work into a final, polished form. She then rewrote her book as a polished stage play.

The play Ideal is about a famous actress, Kay Gonda, who is accused of murder and goes on the run, seeking refuge from six of her biggest fans. To evade the police, she decides to turn to six ardent fans who have written to her, each claiming she represents their "ideal". She visits them one by one, asking them to hide her, and challenges them to live up to the very ideals they claimed she inspired in them. The play is a test of integrity for the fans, and their reactions to her plea reveal their true selves. Most betray Kay proving that their professed ideals were just empty words. Thus, Ideal dramatizes the conflict between a person's stated values and his actions, and examines the theme of living up to one's own standards versus settling for mediocrity.

The play also explores the hypocrisy of Kay’s fans when they are forced to choose between their ideals and their own self-interest, ultimately revealing their true characters. Kay's experiences with the fans—including a family man, an activist, an artist, an evangelist, a playboy, and a lost soul—force her to confront the reality of their values and find the answers she's been seeking.

Historically, Ideal grew out of a conversation Rand had with a movie fan, who gushed that she would give her life to meet a certain famous actress. This conversation prompted Rand to create a story in which the integrity of those who profess to embrace ideals are tested. So, she wrote Ideal to ask and answer the question: “ ‘What if [an actor, or actress, that you like]  suddenly appears in [your] life” in need of desperate help? Would you help them, with real action, according to your ideals? Or, would you betray them?