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The Country Wife by William Wycherley (1675) English Restoration Comedies- Stock Characters

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The Country Wife by William Wycherley (1675) English Restoration Comedies- Stock Characters English Restoration Comedies- Stock Characters The Country Wife by William Wycherley (1675) English Restoration Comedies- Stock Characters • The Rake - a fashionable or wealthy man of immoral or promiscuous habits. • The Cuckold- The character is the husband of a adulterous wife. • The fop- A foolish man overly concerned with his appearance and clothes in 17th century England. • The country father- A Father from the country • The coquette - A flirtatious woman. • The old crown - Old women who do nothing but gossip • The country daughter - the daughter of the Country father source: shivaniparkashenglishlit.weebly.com/the-country-wife-notes.html The Country Wife- Characters • Harry Horner: A notorious London rake who, in order to gain sexual access to “respectable” women, spreads the rumor that disease has rendered him impotent. Horner is the most insightful of all the “wits” in the play, often drawing out and commenting on the moral failings of others. • - Even though in announcing to the world that he is an impotent eunuch, Horner essentially emasculates himself and removes almost everything that makes him male, he is actually the most intelligent character in the play because he is the one who ends up ‘having it all’. • Mr. Pinchwife: Becomes a cuckold after pushing his naive wife away from him. He is a middle aged man newly married to the country wife Margery. A rake before his marriage, he is now the archetypal jealous husband: he lives in fear of being cuckolded, not because he loves his wife but because he believes that he owns her. He is a latent tyrant, potentially violent. • - He is right when he says that cuckolds are generally the makers of their own misfortune. He takes every precaution to keep his wife from falling into the predatory hands of Horner. Foolishly, he is the very instrument that brings about this event. source: http://shivaniparkashenglishlit.weebly.com/the-country-wife-notes.html • Margery Pinchwife: The attractive young “country wife” of the title, Margery is newly married to Jack Pinchwife and is visiting London for the first time to see Alithea’s wedding. she is from the country and her character seems to be very stupid and childish. She seems to be not educated and is pleased with anything and everything. She is young and pretty. • Alethea Pinchwife: Alithea is the Younger sister of Jack Pinchwife. She is engaged to Sparkish. in the course of the play, however, she attracts Harcourt, whom she begins to value for his intelligence and gallantry. Alethea is the most straightforwardly admirable person in the play: her residence in London and enjoyment of the pleasures of the town have sharpened her wits but not dulled her morals. Alithea is perhaps the most intelligent and, therefore, interesting of all the characters. Althea is the only woman in the whole play who acts with dignity and common sense. • Frank Harcourt: A rakish friend of Horner, Harcourt meets Alethea early in the play, flirts with her in front of Sparkish, and soon falls in love with her. His devotion to Alethea bespeaks his basic good nature, and in the course of the play he is converted to a vision of marriage based on mutual love and esteem, Harcourt a much more likable character than any other in the play. He, too, is witty and charming to women, apparently sharing many of the social and character traits of Horner. • Mr. Dorilant: A rakish friend of Horner and Harcourt. • Mr. Sparkish:A shallow and foolish playboy who considers himself, wrongly, a “wit.” He is engaged to Alithea, attracted primarily by her money. He doesn’t actually love Alithea and plays around with her feelings for example not getting jealous about Harcourt flirting with Alithea. He only cares about himself, his appearance and how people see him. He doesn't value love. source: shivaniparkashenglishlit.weebly.com/the-country-wife-notes.html • Lucy: Alithea’s clever and sensible maidservant. She is skeptical of her mistress’s plans to marry the vapid Sparkish, and she is resourceful in coming up with schemes to encourage a match with Harcourt. • Sir Jasper Fidget: He is happy to entrust his wife, Lady Fidget, to Horner’s company, on the theory that the presence of the supposed eunuch will keep her occupied and discourage the advances of other, more potent men. He makes endless and mindless jokes about Horner's alleged impotence. • Lady Fidget: The wife of Sir Jasper Fidget, she is much younger than her husband and a leading figure in “the virtuous gang.” Utterly hypocritical, she piques herself on her virtue in public and avails herself of Horner’s physical charms in private. Late in the play she articulates a defense of the hypocrisy of high-born ladies. • Dainty Fidget:The unmarried sister of Sir Jasper Fidget. Like Lady Fidget, she is a member of “the virtuous gang” and secretly a conquest of Horner’s. • Mistress Squeamish: A young unmarried woman related to the Fidgets. Like Lady Fidget, she is a member of “the virtuous gang” and secretly a conquest of Horner’s. • Old Lady Squeamish:The grandmother of Mistress Squeamish; she strives in vain to preserve her granddaughter’s purity. • The Quack:The doctor whom Horner enlists to spread the rumor of his impotence. source: shivaniparkashenglishlit.weebly.com/the-country-wife-notes.html.
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