The Country Wife Review

The Country Wife by William Wycherley (204 pages)
My Rating: 4 Stars
Date Read: 10 April 2016

Synopsis:

'Cuckolds like lovers should themselves deceive'

So concludes one of Wycherley's most revived and much discussed plays. It is a satirical comedy sharply focussed on the follies, vices and hypocrisies of Restoration London through its central characters: the desperate Pinchwife; his naive wife; the sex-obsessed Horner and Lady Fidget's 'virtuous gang' of town ladies.

Wycherley's strong wit informs almost every speech and his alarmingly familiar revelations of character leave us to draw our own conclusions. It remains a controversial play, admired as satire or farce, condemned as immoral and frivolous, and appreciated again as a serious work of dramatic art. Modern critics have much debated its central themes, and question marks remain: is Horner hero or villain?

This student edition contains a fully annotated version of the playtext in modern spelling. The Introduction includes an account of Wycherley's life and a detailed discussion of The Country Wife's interpretation and stage history.

My Review:

This was a pretty humorous play. Being a Wit Comedy, from the Restoration period, I would expect no less. If you though Shakespeare had lewd and sexual comedy that was noticeable, this was over the top. Almost any line was able to be read like it was a sexual comment. I loved it. This play is about how women want to be with what they can't have. Even though the main character Horner enjoys the attention, he has an out. At the beginning of the play, he starts a rumor that he is a eunuch, thus making the husbands believe their wives are safe from his "treacherous loins" when he is actually, quite literally, screwing them over.

Overall, I actually enjoyed reading this play more than I thought I would. Though it got a bit convoluted at certain points, it was still very enjoyable.