'He's a fool that marries, but he's a greater fool that does not marry a fool.' This bawdy, hilarious, subversive and wickedly satirical drama pokes fun at the humourless, the jealous, and the adulterous alike. It features a country wife, Margery, whose husband believes she is too naïve to cuckold him; and an anti-hero, Horner, who pretends to be impotent in order to have unrestrained access to the women keen on 'the sport'. A number of licentious and hypocritical women request Horner's services – the country wife among them. The Country Wife has provoked powerfully mixed reactions over the years. The seventeenth century libertine king Charles II saw it twice, and is said to have joined the 'dance of the cuckolds' at the end of one performance; the eighteenth century actor-playwright David Garrick declared it 'the most licentious play in the English language'; the Victorian Macaulay compared it to a skunk, because it was 'too filthy to handle and too noisome even to approach'. Twentieth century productions heralded it a Restoration masterpiece. Sexually frank, and as ready to criticise marriage as infidelity, the virtuosity, linguistic energy, brilliant wit, naughtiness and complexity of this ribald play have made it a staple of the modern stage. This student edition contains a lengthy, entirely new introduction, by leading scholar, Tiffany Stern, with a background on the author, structure, characters, genre, themes, original staging and performance history, as well as an updated bibliography and a fully annotated version of the playtext.

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 attack on social and sexual hypocrisy. The Plain Dealer, a powerful dramatic satire loosely based on Moliere's Le Misanthrope, continues and enlarges Wycherley's assault on greed and corruption. Under the General Editorship of Michael Cordner of the University of York, the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, there is a scholarly introduction, a note on staging, and detailed annotation. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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 attack on social and sexual hypocrisy. The Plain Dealer, a powerful dramatic satire loosely based onMoliere's Le Misanthrope, continues and enlarges Wycherley's assault on greed and corruption.Under the General Editorship of Michael Cordner of the University of York, the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, there is a scholarly introduction, a note on staging, and detailed annotation.

Comedy classics that defined a new era in drama: The Country Wife by William Wycherley; The Man of Mode by Sir George Etheredge; The Rover by Aphra Behn; and The Relapse by Sir John Vanbrugh.

Can a wife single-handedly bring a boring or broken marriage back to life? This improved and expanded edition of Laura Doyle's acclaimed First, Kill All the Marriage Counselors features real-life success stories from empowered wives who have done just that—and provides a step-by-step guide to revitalizing your own marriage. Laura Doyle's marriage was in trouble, and couples counseling wasn't helping. On the brink of divorce, she decided to talk to women who'd been happily married for over a decade, and their advice stunned her. From it, she distilled Six Intimacy Skills—woman-centric practices that ended her overwhelm and resentment, restoring the playfulness and passion in her marriage. Now an internationally-recognized relationship coach, Doyle has shared her secrets with women around the globe, saving thousands of marriages with her fresh, revolutionary approach. Practical and counter-intuitive, the Six Intimacy Skills are about focusing on your own desires and transforming your own life—not bending over backwards to transform your husband. Incorporating these skills will empower you to: Attract his attention like a magnet when you relax more and do less Receive affection not because you told him to make more of an effort, but because he naturally seeks you out Feel more like yourself—and like yourself more If you've been trying to "fix" your relationship and it's not working, maybe the problem was never you, or your husband, or even the two of you as a couple. Maybe the problem is that nobody ever taught you the skills you need to foster respect, tenderness, and consideration. With humor and heart, The Empowered Wife shows you how to improve your relationship in ways you hadn't thought possible. You'll join a worldwide community of over 150,000 empowered wives who finally have the marriages they dreamed of when they said "I do."

Do you believe in love at first sight? This author focuses on that as the main theme throughout "The Country Wife." The main character gets stranded and that experience would end up changing his life forever. He ends up dealing with feelings that he never had to deal with before and he also learns how to be patient and bid his time. He also learns what a submissive woman is like. Love is never ever found where it is expected and sometimes the strangest occurrences can lead to a permanent love connection. This book delves into all of that and more.

Examining the major plays of George Etherege and William Wycherley within the context of the cultural and historical changes that marked the early years of Charles II's reign, this book addresses various issues such as marriage, manners, heroism and sovereignty that preoccupied late seventeenth-century Britain. In addition to exploring the plays as cultural and historical texts, this study offers performance histories that illuminate ways in which twentieth-century directors have altered and interpreted these plays to make them accessible to modern audiences.

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Erfurt (Philosophische Fakultät), course: Restoration Comedy, 4 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The re-opening of the theatres in 1660 after 18 years of banishment announced a rebirth for English drama. The following period was called Restoration and was quite popular primarily for the sexual explicitness, which was highly encouraged by Charles II. Socially diverse audiences watched the crowded and bustling plays. "Variety and dizzying changes are typical of Restoration comedy" (http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restoration_comedy). The era of Restoration comedy culminated twice: in the mid-1670s with aristocratic comedies and in the mid-1690s with the acceptance of a wider audience. The comedies of these two times are extremely different from each other. William Wycherley's works are an example of the gold 1670s era and are quite 'hard' representing ceaseless machinations and conquest in an aristocratic macho lifestyle. The play that is going to be examined was written in 1675 and mirrors an aristocratic and anti-Puritan ideology. It is based on different plays by Molière with some added features like colloquial prose dialogue, a complicated, bustling plot gallimaufry, and many sex jokes. It contains two insensitive plot devices: a libertine pretending being impotent in order to have secret affairs with married women and a young country wife discovering the pleasures of city life, especially the spellbinding men. The play itself was a subject to elaborate praise and moral outrage. A lot of critics appreciated the linguistic energy and wit. Nowadays the original play is a stage favorite again, especially due to the linguistic finesse, the incisive social satire, and the openness to different interpretations.