The Country Wife

The Country Wife was considered fairly shocking when it was written in the fairly laid back 1670's, and between 1753 and 1924 was considered too scandalous to be performed at all.

Mr Horner, a notorious rake, returns from France with a new scheme to seduce the ladies of quality of London. By paying a quack doctor to spread the rumour that he is completely impotent, he calculates that he will be allowed access to the wives and daughters that are usually kept closely chaperoned around him. This could be seen as a very predatory scheme, but the truth is that the wives and daughters are equally as ready to be seduced, as he is to do the seducing, as long as the pretence of Horner's impotency protects them from any suspicion of wrongdoing. show more Into this mix comes the newly married Pinchwife, who has married Marjory, the 'Country Wife' of the title, choosing an unsophisticated girl from the country expecting that she will be much more faithful and biddable than the sophisticated wives of his friends. But Marjory is very keen to experience everything that the big city has to offer ...

It's always difficult to properly assess a play by reading but I can see that a production of The Country Wife could be very funny indeed! show less

'Bawdy' is not an adjective that ever draws me to a work of literature, but I had to read this for my course. It is very much on the one note throughout, and lacks heart, but it had its moments and some of the double entendres were very clever. I even smiled a couple of times. It must be much more entertaining when performed, when the asides work better and the physical jokes are more apparent.

Honestly, if I hadn't read this play because of a (retake, ugh) of an English class, then I can say with little doubt that I would never have gone near it. Plays aren't really my bag, even less so with farcical romances. All that prefacing aside though, having read this play for the second time I can say that I did find parts of it that were enjoyable, witty, and at times entertaining. Good if you're into it, but I suspect it won't convert any nonbelievers.

The plot is virtually non-existent and that the play relies heavily upon sexual innuendo rather than wit. However, The Country Wife was meant to be performed rather than read. I went to see the play just after reading it and found it rather amusing.

While this play was interesting in terms of context, I really didn't find it amusing or even very interesting. The action didn't really seem to go anywhere. It was a just a series of "near misses" in terms of the characters almost getting caught doing immoral things. I don't find the topic of "cuckolds" all that funny. The play was definitely witty and there was plenty of sarcastic irony, but for all that, I didn't much enjoy it.

Ahh...Restoration Comedy. Not exactly the highpoint of English literature. Although its influence on post-war British Cinema is hard to miss.

Oo-er Matron!

5