written in 1675 by William Wycherley
. A product of the tolerant early Restoration
period, the play reflects an aristocratic
and anti-Puritan
ideology, and was controversial for its sexual explicitness even in its own time. The title itself contains a lewd pun. It is based on several plays by Molière
, with added features that 1670s London audiences demanded: colloquial
prose
dialogue
in place of Molière's verse
, a complicated, fast-paced plot tangle, and many sex
jokes.
Well, but let me tell you, women, as you say, are like soldiers, made constant and loyal by good pay rather than oaths and covenants. Therefore I'd advise my friends to keep rather than marry. (I.i.464—67)
But methinks wit is more necessary than beauty; and I think no young woman ugly that has it, and no handsome woman agreeable without it. (I.i.425—27)
Your women of honour, as you call'em, are only chary of their reputations, not their persons, and 'tis scandal they would avoid, not men. (I.i.167—69)
Canfield, Douglas (1997). Tricksters and Estates: On the Ideology of Restoration Comedy. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky.
Wycherley, William (New Mermaid ed., 2003). The Country Wife. Ed. James Ogden. London: A&C Black.
Category:Plays