Harold Love in his insightful discussion on Restoration comedy argues that the central subject of Restoration comedy is “the tyranny of the passion and the fragility of pretension”. In The Country Wife, Wycherley is projecting an attack against hypocrisy to unmask the pretenders to virtue and the pretenders to wit.
The Country Wife is divided into three main plots that include Horner’s pretense, the married life of Pinchwife and Margery, and the courtship of Harcourt and Alithea.
Horner’s Impotence Trick
Horner’s impotence trick involves the pretense in spreading a false report that he is impotent as a deceitful plot to gain access to the favors of women like Lady Fidget, Mrs Fidget and Mrs Squeamish. The ‘Ladies of Honor’ who are rakes at heart protect their reputation by pretending virtue. Horner uses this pretense to gain access to the pretenders of chastity.
Horner is at the peak of the libertine code. He is more intelligent than the cuckolded husbands. He advocates total freedom and secrecy. He receives pleasure without passion or love and he often equates sex with food: “Ceremony in love and eating is as ridiculous as in fighting”.
The Married Life of Pinchwife and Margery
Mr. Pinchwife comes to London for his sister’s marriage, bringing with him the artless "country wife", Margery Pinchwife. His extreme jealousy and excessive warnings put ideas into her head and she is soon seduced by Horner. Pinchwife tries to keep Margery in ignorance to prevent his cuckolding but inadvertently he teaches her the ways of the city. In reality, Pinchwife is a rake at heart who knows the ways of the town.
The Courtship of Harcourt and Alithea
The courtship between Harcourt and Alithea represents true love. Sparkish, Alithea’s fiancé, is a hypocrite who pretends lack of jealousy but who does not really love Alithea. He is a fop who wants Alithea solely for her property and who immediately doubts Alithea’s virtue. In contrast, Harcourt preserves his faith in Alithea. The love of Harcourt towards Alithea ultimately represents the right way of true love and mutual trust in marriage.
The main aim of The Country Wife may be entertainment but there is a great deal of satire which is further developed in Wycherley’s last play The Plain Dealer, a satirical undercutting to pretenders of virtue. As Kathleen M. Lynch remarks in The Social Mode of Restoration Comedy these plays are not only a manifestation of manners but they are also a satire of these manners manifesting social and moral values.
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Maureen Cutajar - Maureen is a professional IT project manager, web writer, and eBook formatter with educational background in English literature and ...
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