Summary:
The Restoration Comedy, `The Country Wife' is written by William Wycherley in 1676, a time when marriage was often perceived to be for financial and social gain rather than love. The main themes of Restoration Comedies were `love, sexual intrigue and cuckoldry'.
'A marriage vow is like a penitent gamester's oath and
entering into bonds and penalties to stint himself to
such a particular small sum at play for the future,
which makes him but the more eager and, not being
able to hold out, loses his money again and his forfeit
to boot. Act 1 Scene 1
This quote on the subject of marriage derives from the Restoration Comedy, 'The Country Wife' written by William Wycherley in 1676, a time when marriage was often perceived to be for financial and social gain rather than love. Wycherley was a 'man of the town' or what was more commonly described as a 'wit' and social situations which he himself participated in or observed, often feature in his plays, marriage included. Mrs Inchbald, a former actress, noticed how, 'marriage was likewise the catastrophe of all poor Wycherley's own schemes; for he married, and the rest of his life was a deep tragedy.' Wycherley may relate to his own experiences when expressing his outlook on marriage.
During this period and within this society, the principles behind marriage were often mercenary and as Ricks.C.Ed. comments in English Drama to 1770, 'Marriage contracts were not concerned with feelings but with finance.' William Wycherley within 'The Country Wife' comments on the morality of marriage and reflects reality through various couples who illustrate the various perceptions and states of marriage.
The union between Sir Jasper Fidget and Lady Fidget is not cruel, violent or offensive, but one of convenience. Together for security, finance and status, love is absent in their relationship. Wycherley criticises Sir Jasper's priorities 'Business must be preferred always before love and ceremony with the wise' as they contrast significantly with the priorities a romantic man would condone. Sir Jasper is not however naïve, as he knows that with the continual neglect of his wife he will undoubtedly be cuckolded. In the play Sir Jasper endeavours to remain uncuckolded by searching for someone to mind his wife and keep her amused. Horner is allocated this role with the belief that he is a Eunuch and so poses no threat. By exposing Sir Jasper's folly, Wycherley ridicules the state of this marriage.
Sir Jasper's aim may be to remain uncuckolded but his wife's is to satisfy her rampant sexual appetite. She has already 'prostituted' herself into this marriage for security and status so is already morally compromised. However, she still desires to be perceived as a 'woman of honour' and believes that cuckolding her husband is acceptable as long as it is clandestine and with someone of equal status as 'a woman of honour loses no honour with a private person'.
Throughout the play Wycherley never profoundly criticises her for her infidelity, except when exposing her hypocrisy. He instead sympathises, 'I wonder there are no more jealous, since wives are so neglected', with her situation. Wycherley does however, criticise her hypocrisy by using the word 'honour', 'Well Horner, am not I a woman of honour"' and how she uses it to portray herself. He uses ridicule to condemn her; this style was popular with playwrights to apply when attacking a stereotype or characteristic within a person. For Lady Fidget is not a woman of 'honour' as she is deceitful and deceptive, hidden behind tacit language and sexual innuendo.
Wycherley seems to recognise that with many husbands who were engrossed in business and their own pleasures, it was deemed reasonable for their wives to search elsewhere for their satisfactions. By reflecting this Wycherley represents marriage negatively, as through her hypocrisy the audience is led to dislike Lady Fidget rather than empathise with her.
Pinchwife is a 49 year old 'ex-whore master' whose name suggests a sadistic nature resulting from his jealousy. He travelled to the country to find a wife who was 'clean' and was innocent of corruption, for in London venereal diseases were rife but, rather than for moral or health concerns, Pinchwife sought a wife with these qualities for his own selfish motives, 'you only married to keep a whore to yourself'. Wycherley illustrates here the ways in which many men behaved during this time. One of the reasons for marriage was the continuity of the male line and a man's purpose whilst married was to remain uncuckolded. By marrying a girl from the country the man would have a wife clean of venereal diseases signifying a greater chance of children and a wife who is unaware of corruption and promiscuity.
Though the reasons behind marriage are once more represented negatively by Wycherley, with this relationship it is Pinchwife's jealousy and demeanour towards his wife which Wycherley predominantly disapproves. Pinchwife is an extremely insecure man, highlighted by the penknife incident in which he threatens to, 'write 'whore' with this penknife in your face.' The penknife connotates the size of Pinchwife's phallus, emphasising his delicate sexual identity and threatened ego as younger men carry swords. This leads to imaginative jealousy and foolishness, for even though Pinchwife 'knows the town' it is he who teaches Margery the ways of the town and even delivers love letters for her. Highlighting a sense of hypocrisy, it is the blind jealousy which Wycherley condemns and ridicules, for Pinchwife's plans backfire on him when Margery becomes astute and is able to trick Pinchwife, using this jealousy to her advantage. This illustrates how Wycherley is averse to envy and violence and the reasons behind this union.
Similarly with Sparkish and Alithea, Wycherley has bestowed upon them names which represent their personalities. Sparkish believes he is witty and has the prized 'wit' which was an important characteristic for a man to boast however, in reality he is naïve and immature. Whilst deeming himself a 'gallant' he believes that marriage is for egotistical, 'I love to be envied and would not marry a wife that I alone could love; loving alone is as dull as eating alone.' and mercenary reasons, a means of elevating ones social status. Wycherley acknowledges the reality that these reasons were motives for marriage, however as this marriage fails to become legal and Alithea finally marries for love, Wycherley illustrates how in a perfect world people would marry only for love
Translated from Greek 'Alithea' means truth and, throughout the play she is the voice of truth, especially with Sparkish as she attempts to, 'tell you then plainly' that Harcourt, 'pursues me to marry me'. She is constantly perceived in a respected light and is incessantly loyal. The true love between her and Harcourt leads to their impending wedding which concludes the happy ending to the play, presenting Wycherley averting ridicule and instead commending the ideal romantic union.
The main themes of Restoration Comedies were 'love, sexual intrigue and cuckoldry' (Morrah, 109), and Wycherley has certainly included all of these in 'The Country Wife'. These themes all relate to marriage, and though Wycherley doesn't continually make his opinions on marriage clear, by examining the characters he depicts and plots he builds, we can gain an insight into his attitude towards marriage. Wycherley's ridicule of the men shows how he does not commend business as a priority, jealousy and violence, or marriage for mercenary reasons meaning the representation of many of these marriages is highly negative. However, when the relationship between Harcourt and Alithea begins to develop, with the addition of their honesty and true love, marriage and love is represented as being positive and achievable.
This is the complete article, containing 1,222 words
(approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page).
