Wycherley’s “The Country Wife” “A Restoration comedy is like an eighteenth-century sitcom; it’s entertaining” (MacKenzie, “Behn”). However, the similarities between the two genres are more far-reaching than their equal entertainment value. For example, the cast of William Wycherley’s Restoration comedy, “The Country Wife,” consists of some central characters that are strikingly similar to those in the cast of the modern situation comedy, Seinfeld. Harry Horner from “The Country Wife” and George
A Virtuous Woman In William Wycherley’s The Country Wife, William Wycherley enlightens the audience to capture several different ironical statements and questionable behaviors. The play fits perfectly into Greenwald’s definition of a comedy of manners: “[Critics] assert that a comedy of manners and the people who inhabit it represent the ostentatiously idle upper-class” (“Social Heirarchy” web). Wycherley also distinguishes several oddities in his characters not typically used to describe the
The Representation of Marriage in The Country Wife William Wycherly represents marriage in a peculiar way in The Country Wife. The classic marital values of love, trust, and becoming one with your partner in a bond of love are distorted by intense emotion. The appropriately named Mr. Pinchwife is a jealous husband who moves his new wife Margery to the country with hopes keep her from the outside world, namely the city of London, and the inevitable infidelity that lies there in his mind. However
Reconsidering Harcourt in Wycherley’s The Country Wife Wycherley’s The Country Wife opens on Horner, the lead, telling his physician about his plan to change his reputation from that of a rake (promiscuous man-about-town) to that of a eunuch in order to gain access to women without anyone knowing. He withholds this plan from everyone but the doctor, who becomes his accomplice by spreading the rumor of Horner’s impotence to the gossipiest women in London. Horner’s sex life constitutes two of
William Wycherley’s The Country Wife, distinguishes the distinction of innocent Country folks and the city wit as characters react to crises they encounter differently. Margery’s naivety acknowledges her as a country wife as she mistakes Horner’s cuckoldry of her husband to be Horner’s love for her. As the truth behind Horner’s secret is revealed, Margery is forced to lie in order to protect the reputations of the city men and women. Mr. Pintchwife’s control over Margery around Horner in comparison
The Country Wife – written by William Wycherley in 1675 – is a Restoration comedy based upon the life of the aristocracy. Restoration comedy is a style of drama that was made popular in the late seventeenth century. It refers to the period in England when King Charles II was returned as the head of the English empire. Life under King Charles II was seen as hedonistic: people were motivated by pleasure. These moral virtues represented the degradation of society, rampant with sexual explicitness and
The Restoration comedy The Country Wife, by William Wycherley, published in 1675 demonstrates types of plays in the restoration period that were bawdy and sexual. It is in this play that certain characters are used to represent the genre of comedy of manners. Through the characters in the play such as Horner, Mrs. Pinch-wife and Lady Fidget and the constant reference to the comedy of manners, it is evident that there are many links between the playwright and restoration period. As the play originated
Wycherley’s The Country Wife gives the audience a very clear-cut representation of gender roles in the late seventeenth century. It reminds the audience of the constructed nature of gender roles and it shows them a way a way to succeed in a society dominated by such roles. It is as simple as understanding the social constructions and creating new constructions within these roles. For instance, The Country Wife equates femaleness with power rather than pious passivity, especially in the characters
In The Country Wife, women are treated as mere objects and are viewed by the men of the play as being inferior. Sparkish views Alethea as an object that should be flaunted around and is only interested in marrying her for her wealth. Sparkish revels in the idea that he be envied for his wife because he believes that allowing more men to love her and envy him for owning her will increase her worth. In viewing her as something that gains value, Sparkish likens her to a treasure at an auction, whose
repression or other factors involved in its creation. It's just on general principal then, having read Goldsmith's play and enjoyed it for itself while noting possibilities for his commenting on social/class order or the differences between city and country life, that I set aside Nelson's criticism of the play and leave it as it stands, untouched by Freudian ideology. Works Cited Goldsrnith, Oliver. She Stoops to Conquer. Dover Publications, NY: 1991 Nelson, T.G.A. "Stooping to Conquer in Goldsmith
two women in The Country Wife that have strong feelings as to what they want, but they don’t always agree on the reason or way to go about fulfilling those feelings. . Alithea Pinchwife and Margery Pinchwife both are honest and truthful to their spouses in the beginning of the story, but ones ignorance and naivety leads them each down a different path. Both of these Women respect their husbands (fiancé in Alithea’s cases) very much. Margery is more of an ignorant obedient wife who eventually sees
marriage and family in pursuit of personal gratification. While a common characteristic of the rake is his pursuit of personal gratification there are a number of different types of rakes: the Hobbesian libertine, best explained by Horner in The Country Wife; the philosophical libertine, seen through th... ... middle of paper ... ...rake was so strong that he continues to influence the perception of masculinity well in the twentieth century. Charlotte Bronte was attracted to rake model of masculinity
taste for bawdy comedy, an eye for beauty and a willingness to take risks and invite public disapproval. Perhaps one of the most controversial, and certainly the most obvious change in the theater was the introduction of actresses. Although other countries, such as France, had already integrated women into performances, when England’s theaters were closed, boys still played the female roles. (Ironically, though, while this was meant to enforce notions of female modesty it also offended those who thought
Marriage and beauty concepts are complicated procedure in the West, namely the United States and Canada, where humans are responsible for deciding who they want to marry and build a life with and keeping their bodies in a form that is appeasing to the opposite sex. In the Western societies a couple must “love” each other in order for a marriage to work; yet, the West has a much higher divorced rate than in eastern societies. According to Frank Sinatra, love and marriage is like a horse and carriage—cannot
times. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife was unnamed and seen as a walking figure with no emotions. During the Great Depression women were expected to have the meals ready, the house cleaned, and look presentable for when their husbands arrived from work as though they were machines manufactured to please men. John Steinbeck seems to suggest that women in the 1930’s were trapped by society. Steinbeck alludes that Curley’s wife can’t leave the ranch, her husband controls here, and
other girlfriend or wife? Most women think polygamy is absolute nonsense and insincere sentiment, and some men think so too. On the other hand, some men think it sounds too good to be true because they can have an affair and cheating in state. Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and Bali agree polygamy. In this circumstance, there are many Muslim people in these countries, and polygamy is not a serious matter under the doctrine of Muslim. No one knows what are polygamy 's origins, but many countries had polygamy in
William Wycherly's The Country Wife and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's “Epistle from Mrs. Yonge to Her Husband” both open a discourse on female sexual desire and fidelity, representing similar ideas. Both works consider the constraints of honour and societal expectations upon women, and the double standard for fidelity between husbands and wives. Ultimately the works present a final statement through consequences for women affected by the issues, with different views about the future for oppressed women
comedy documentary directed by Geeta V. Patel. The film depicts the journey of Ravi V. Patel on the search for an adequate Indian wife that meets the criteria of his family, and who he can also feel a personal connection with. In the film the depiction of two countries: United States and India played a role on Ravi’s decision on finding a wife, and how each country portrays the role of marriage and the laws surrounding it. In the Indian culture, marriage is different from another culture's point
What is polygamy Polygamy in Islam is a process of marriage that permits a man to have more than one wife at the same time. Also, there are two different interpretations on polygamy as a term. They are polygyny and polyandry. Polygny which is basically the same act that has the same meaning as polygamy in Islam; which is a man marrying more than one woman at the time1. On the other hand, there is Polyandry which is a woman who marries more than one man at the same time; however, according to
a family from each country is interviewed to portray the average customs in that particular part of Africa. The first interview was in Ethiopia with a young women named Rahel. Rahel Girma is the ideal candidate for this role because she strayed from her religious customs. This isn’t as unheard of as it used to be. All around the world individuals are deciding to think independently, especially in the younger age groups.