The Country Wife is a sparkling Restoration comedy by William Wycherley, first performed in 1675, renowned for its witty dialogue, bold humor, and sharp social commentary. Set in London during the Restoration period, the play exposes the hypocrisy, sexual politics, and pretensions of aristocratic society with unmatched brilliance. Wycherley's masterful use of satire entertains while provoking thought, offering a clever critique of morality, marriage, and gender roles in 17th-century Englan...

William Wycherley's Four Plays encapsulates the wit and audacity of Restoration comedy, showcasing the playwright's keen insight into the follies of human nature and societal norms. This collection features notable works such as "The Country Wife" and "The Plain Dealer," which adeptly utilize sharp dialogue and satirical narrative to explore themes of desire, deception, and the complexities of romantic entanglements. Wycherley's literary style combines raucous humor with pointed social cri...

William Wycherley was, before Congreve arose to surpass him, the most eminent master of that artificial school of Comedy which commenced with the restoration of Charles II., and which may be said to have perished, in a blaze as of a funeral pyre, with Sheridan. Abandoning the beaten paths of English drama, the writers of this school found, in the various intrigue of the Spanish theatre, in the verbal vivacity and piquant satire of the French, a new basis for their productions. Their works,...

William Wycherley: Four Plays is a collection of Wycherley’s most significant works: The Country Wife (1675), The Plain Dealer (1676), Love in a Wood (1671), and The Gentleman Dancing Master (1671). These plays, written during the Restoration period, showcase Wycherley’s sharp wit, social critique, and exploration of human relationships, particularly regarding love, marriage, and societal expectations.In The Country Wife, Wycherley critiques the sexual mores and hypocrisy of the time. The ...

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little PriceA classically bawdy Restoration Comedy, widely regarded as one of the filthiest and funniest plays ever written.The City of London in the seventeenth century. Harry Horner wants to seduce as many women as possible, but he needs to convince their husbands that he's physically incapable of any such thing. Cannily, his faux impotence also allows him to sniff out and unmask those respectably virtuou...

Wycherley's four comedies are admired for their satirical wit, farcical humour, vivid characterization, and social criticism.Love in a Wood, a lively comedy of intrigue, established him as a brilliant new dramatist.The Gentleman Dancing-Master, in contrast, disappointed contemporary audiences, but the central relationship between Hippolyta and Gerrard features an original and sympathetic study of a young woman's attitudes and feelings. The Country Wife is a sharp but also highly amusing at...

In "William Wycherley: Four Plays," the reader is invited to explore a pivotal collection of works that epitomize the Restoration era's hallmark of wit and sexual politics. Wycherley's plays, including the renowned "The Country Wife" and "The Plain Dealer," are characterized by their clever dialogue, intricate plotting, and incisive commentary on social norms and moral hypocrisy. Through his mastery of comedy, Wycherley deftly navigates themes of desire, manipulation, and the complexities ...

*The Country Wife* was first performed in January 1672 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It traces several plot lines, the principal of which follows notorious rake Harry Horner's attempt to carry on affairs by spreading a rumor that he is now a eunuch and no longer a threat to any man's wife. It was controversial for its sexual explicitness even in its own time, having several notorious scenes filled with extended sexual innuendo and women carousing, singing riotous songs, and behaving ex...

The late seventeenth century playwright William Wycherley produced satirical and comic masterpieces, winning the admiration of his fellow writers, including John Dryden and William Congreve, who described him as “appointed to lash this crying age.” Following the restoration of Charles II, dramatists experienced new freedom in an age that broke from the strict morality of puritan rule and in which elegance and wit became the most prized of virtues. Irreverent, cynical and licentious, Wycher...

In the heart of Restoration England, where wit and scandal reign supreme, William Wycherley's "The Country Wife" unfolds. Meet Horner, a notorious rake, who feigns impotence to gain access to the most virtuous ladies of London. As he embarks on his scandalous scheme, a whirlwind of mistaken identities, double entendres, and social satire ensues. Prepare to be swept away by the raucous and bawdy world of Wycherley's masterpiece, where the boundaries of propriety are tested and the pursuit o...

Originally performed and published in 1675, this five-act play parodies the vices and hypocrisies of Restoration London. The plot centers on the eponymous country wife, Margery, whose suspicious husband, Mr. Pinchwife, keeps her isolated. On a rare outing to the theater, Margery encounters the aptly named Mr. Horner. A notorious rake who feigns impotence to trick his way into the intimate company of married ladies, Horner soon schools Margery in the art of deception and realizes Pinchwife'...

When England's theaters reopened in 1660, 18 years after being closed by an act of Parliament, audiences embraced the witty and satirical dialogue spoken by "plain folks" characters—it was a new era in drama. The four comedy classics featured in this one convenient collection are typical of the works popularized during one of the most exciting and innovative periods in English theater.Brimming with bawdy and satirical comedies and rampant with notorious womanizers, amorous adventure...