The Country Wife

William Wycherley’s The Country Wife was written and first performed in London, in 1675. The play has lived on as one of the most famous examples of British Restoration comedies and continues to be produced frequently. The Restoration era, between 1660 and about 1700, describes the period following the Commonwealth era and the restoration of the English monarchy. During the Commonwealth, theatre was banned in England for 18 years, so with his return to the throne, King Charles II encouraged not only the reinstatement of the theatre but the production of plays with lascivious content and language. Restoration comedies had complicated romantic plots, often featuring a mixture of working class and (as the character Sparkish complains) members of the aristocracy. After Puritan control during the Commonwealth, artistic responses like The Country Wife adopted a clear anti-Puritan stance. But even in this moment of permissiveness, the play was considered scandalous and was actually banned from the stage between 1753 and 1924.

The Country Wife, based on a compilation of Molière’s The School for Husbands (1661), The School for Wives (1662), and Terence’s The Eunuch (161 BCE), is about marriage, infidelity, and male friendship. Harry Horner, an infamous womanizer, enlists his doctor to spread the false rumor that Horner has become impotent to convince other men to trust him to be alone with their wives.