Drama The Country Wife Summary & Themes by William Wycherley
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The Country Wife Summary
A Flirtatious Man
This story is about debauchery, extramarital affairs, and deception. The protagonist is a flirtatious man named Horner who loves to woo married women in particular. Due to his stained reputation, he conspires with a doctor to declare that he has become impotent and is harmless to any married woman.
Hearing the news, Horner's friends like Harcourt come to console him. The rich men, who previously feared him, bring their women to spend time in the care of Horner.
The Plan Works Well
This works magnificently for Horner who has been planning to find ease access to these women all along through his ruse as an impotent man. Sir Fidget asks Horner to take his wife and her companions to the theatre which he agrees.
However, the ladies find him repulsive due to his impotence. He takes Lady Fidget aside and tells her about his lie and she accepts his invitation. She also convinces her friends to join them.
Horner is also visited by his friend named Sparkish. Interestingly, he is engaged to be married to Mr. Pinchwife's sister. Mr. Pinchwife himself is an old man who has recently taken a young girl named Margery as his wife.
Pinchwife & Margery Visit Horner
He is aware of Horner's reputation and wants to keep his young wife away from him. He refuses to take Margery to theatre lest she is preyed upon by Horner.
However, Margery loves theatre and is also fascinated by Horner's former reputation. So, she disguises herself as a man and accompanies her husband.
At the theatre, Horner sees through Margery's disguise and eventually succeeds in finding her alone and kissing her behind her husband's back. Meanwhile, Harcourt meets Sparkish's fiance Alithea and is smitten by her. Alithea is also attracted to Harcourt but is still committed to Sparkish.
Margery Writes to Horner
When the couple returns home, Margery writes a letter to Horner and asks Pinchwife to deliver it. Pinchwife takes the letter to Horner thinking that it might be written by his wife to express disgust. He is actually happy to throw it in Horner's face for his comments about his wife.
Soon, Horner is visited by the Lady Fidget and her companions one by one as they deceive Sir Fidget by hiding their affairs. Sir Fidget has no idea that he has been cuckolded by Horner.
However, he is soon made aware of the fact by Pinchwife who brings another letter from Margery which has Alithea's signature. It is a love letter directed to Horner. Hearing about this scandal, Sparkish breaks his engagement with his fiance.
Alithea also exposes Margery's deception. All hell is about the break loose when the doctor reappears and certifies Horner's impotence. Margery is resigned to her fate while Horner escapes without any trouble to continue his ruse.
The Country Wife Themes
Hedonism & Immorality
Most of the characters in the story exhibit the vices associated with immoral conduct and debauchery. Married women like Margery and Lady Fidget harbor affection for men other than their husbands and are willing to lie in order to save their immoral behavior.
Horner, himself, concocts an elaborate ruse to lull innocent women into a trap of sexual promiscuity and an extramarital affair. Everyone seems to be too engrossed in following their lustful desires even at the expense of making a fool of their family and dear ones.
Marriage
The marital bond is shown to be based on mutual distrust and coercion rather than affection and care. All marriages have an element of lies, deception, and cheating. The Fidgets, Pinchwife and Margery, Alithea and Sparkish (engaged), etc are all guilty of ignoring the responsibilities as a married pair.
In fact, the whole institution of marriage is ridiculed and condemned by the writer who tries to suggest that it is an obsolete practice and that men and women are incapable of monogamous relationships based on mutual trust and concern.
Duplicity
The story is rife with characters that live a life of hypocrisy and deception. Lady Fidget and her companions, Margery and Horner all are living two lives and put up appearances to fool the people around them.
Lady Fidget and her friends are critical of all the women who sleep with many men but are as much culpable when they get an opportunity to have an affair with Horner.
Jealousy & Suspicion
Pinchwife is extremely concern about his beautiful wife and is jealous of every man who even looks at her. He is suspicious of every onlooker and does not trust his wife to stay loyal to him.
Sparkish is, on the other hand, unaware of his fiance and Harcourt's budding romance and remains oblivious until Pinchwife gives him the letter. Sir Fidget is also oblivious to his wife's affair with Horner and even brings her wife to him personally.
